Americans love melted cheese: on burgers, nachos, pizza, sandwiches, in fondue and queso dips. On the elegant end of the melted cheese menu is a gratin (grah-TAH, although Americans say GRAH-tin), a casserole that is topped with seasoned breadcrumbs and cheese, which is browned.

Potatoes au gratin is a popular rendition, but your favorite vegetables can be given the same treatment* if family members won’t eat their broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, green beans, spinach, etc.

The basic gratin recipe is below. Tailor it to your tastes.
 
 
GRATIN VS. SCALLOPED POTATOES

Our mother was very fond of tomatoes au gratin, when she needed a tomato fix during the winter season. She also preferred onions au gratin to creamed onions for the melty cheese.

Both dishes use thinly-sliced potatoes, and people often use the terms interchangeably. We have seen this error in major online recipe databases, like All Recipes.

And even earlier cooks used what today would be incorrect terminology. Gratin Dauphinois, a French dish of sliced potatoes baked in cream, has no cheese or crumbs.

For today’s correct usage:

 
Before we head to the recipe, here’s some gratin history:
 
 
THE HISTORY OF POTATOES AU GRATIN

Gratin recipes originated in Europe, possibly in Provence, which once used the word gratoneya to a certain way of cooking foods (source).

Most people would think it originally came from the French word gratin, a derivative of the verb grater, to grate.

But in the 16th century, that word referred to what we today call the fond, the French word for bottom, indicating food which sticks to the bottom of the pot and has to be scraped (gratte) off to be eaten.

Since the 19th century the meaning has changed to indicate a crisply baked, browned top, and the term “au gratin” indicates a dish topped with grated cheese.
 
 
RECIPE: POTATOES AU GRATIN (POTATO GRATIN)

This recipe (photo #1), from the Idaho Potato Commission, builds on the original, adding bacon, garlic and scallions.

While gruyère is the classic recipe cheese, this variation uses a combination of gruyère and parmesan.
 
Ingredients

 
Variations

Cooks add their own touches. Here are some suggestions:

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Generously butter 9-inch-by-13-inch casserole dish.

2. SLICE a thin layer off the head of garlic and place the bulb on a piece of foil. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fold the foil into a pouch and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the cloves are soft and tender. Allow the garlic to cool long enough to handle; then squeeze out the cloves and set aside.

[2] Scalloped potatoes are similar to gratin, but don’t have a cheese and breadcrumb topping. Instead, they’re made in a milk base. Here’s the recipe from The Kitchn.

[3] Yukon Golds, the potatoes of choice (photo courtesy Bonnie Plants).

[4] Spinach gratin, with a mix of three cheeses. Here’s the recipe from Everyday Kitchen.

[5] Eggplant gratin, with mozzarella and parmesan. Here’s the recipe from Food For Love.

4. ADD the butter, cream, and roasted garlic to a saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat until the butter is melted. Whisk the mixture to combine all of the ingredients and break up the roasted garlic cloves.

5. PLACE a layer of potato slices on the bottom of the prepared casserole dish. Pour a thin layer of the cream mixture over the top. Sprinkle with kosher salt and black pepper. (Season each layer as you build it, and lightly press down on the layers before adding the next one.)

6. TOP with approximately 2 teaspoons chives, 2 tablespoons scallions, 3 tablespoons bacon, and 2 tablespoons cheese. Repeat until all of the potatoes are used up. Top the final layer with the remaining cream, chives, scallions, bacon and cheese.

7. BAKE at 350°F uncovered for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through and the top is crispy and golden brown. Serve immediately.

________________

*Some vegetables, particularly dense ones like broccoli and cauliflower, require some pre-cooking. Check a recipe, but first toss the florets and stem slices in olive oil and a bit of salt, then roast them at 425° for 15 to 20 minutes.
 

[2] A wealth of mushrooms from which to choose (photo courtesy Good Eggs).

[3] Lobster mushrooms. If you can find them, they add color to the plate (photo courtesy Baldor Food).

Tired of avocado toast? We sure are.

It’s not that we don’t like it; it’s just ubiquitous. We’d like a change.

We found inspiration in this mushroom toast from Edwards Dessert Kitchen in Minneapolis (photo #1). We’ve created our version of the recipe, below.

Aim for 3 varieties of mushrooms: different shapes and textures (photo #2—see the different types of mushrooms).

Enjoy mushroom toast for breakfast, for lunch or light dinner with a side salad or soup, or as a first dinner course.

The assorted mushrooms make the dish elegant, and the splash of sherry adds a wonderful richness that enhances the flavor profile, even at breakfast.

To round out the course, a salad of cherry tomatoes and sweet onions, in a Dijon vinaigrette with some fresh herbs, is a nice counterpoint. For crunch, add some celery or fennel. Mesclun works, too.
 
RECIPE: MUSHROOM TOAST

Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
Preparation

1. HEAT the olive oil and butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir the mushrooms, garlic, sherry/wine, salt and pepper until the mushrooms are lightly browned, about 5 minutes.

2. REDUCE the heat to low and simmer until the mushrooms are tender, 5 to 8 additional minutes. Remove and set aside, covering to keep warm.

3. SAUTÉ the spinach in the same pan. As an alternative, you can wilt it by pouring boiling water over spinach in a colander. Press to remove water. Season either with with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Set aside and keep warm.

4. TOAST the bread and lightly butter it. As the bread toasts, warm the mushrooms and spinach in the microwave for 45 seconds or more.

5. TOP the toast with the mushrooms, then the spinach and optional herbs. Shave the cheese over the tops and serve.

The fourth week in September is National Wild Rice Week. Did you know that wild rice isn’t rice?
 
 
A COUSIN OF TRUE RICE

Wild rice is a member of the Poaceae family, genus Zizania; it is a cousin to true rice, the genus Oryza.

Like Orzya, it grows in in shallow water. Instead of being cultivated in paddies, as the name indicates, it grows wild in small lakes and slow-flowing streams.

There are four species of wild rice, three native to North America.

 
The tassels at the top of the stalks can be seen swaying over rivers, lakes and floodplains from late August through September.

Called manoomin by the local Chippewa, wild rice is a protected crop that can be harvested only by state residents holding a valid license.

In the Great Lakes region, the rice is harvested by hand, by the Chippewa natives. Paddling in canoes (or propelling with push poles—illustration #3, below), they use the traditional instruments, wooden flails, to make the grains fall from the stalks.
 
 
WILD RICE NUTRITION

Wild rice is high in protein for a grain, second only to oats in protein content. Like true rice, it does not contain gluten.

Wild rice is also a good source of minerals and *vitamins, the amino acid lysine and dietary fiber. It low in fat.

While some recipes and store rice mixes combine wild rice with other versions (white rice, brown rice), this is to keep the cost down. It prevents you from enjoying the joy of wild rice.

[2] One of the most popular preparations: wild rice pilaf with mushrooms (photo and recipe from the New York Times).

Cooked wild rice has about 30% fewer calories than brown rice and 40% more protein. It also contains more fibre, potassium and zinc.

So treat yourself: Spring for a bag and make this recipe, courtesy of The New York Times.
 
 
WILD RICE RECIPES

Wild rice can substitute for potatoes or grains, and is used in a wide variety of foods such as dressings/stuffings, casseroles, salads, soups, even desserts.

Here are some wild rice recipe collections to peruse:

 
We always add it to our Thanksgiving turkey dressing.
 
 
> The different types of rice.

> The history of rice.
 

[3] Nineteenth century tribal women harvesting wild rice in the traditional manner. From The American Aboriginal Portfolio by Mrs. Mary H. Eastman. Illustrated by S. Eastman. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co. 1853.

________________

*One cup of cooked wild rice provides 5% or more of the daily value of iron, and potassium, riboflavin and thiamin; 10% or more of the daily value of B6, folate, magnesium, niacin and phosphorus; 15% of zinc; and more than 20% of manganese.
 
 

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

[2] A hearty masala chai spice blend (photo courtesy Spice Station).

[3] Enjoy your Indian tea in an elephant tea pot (alas, this one from Houzz is no longer available, but other designs are).

[4] Don’t want to make chai concentrate? Buy it from Rishi and other brands (photo by Katherine Pollak | THE NIBBLE).

The fall season ushers in traditional autumnal foods and beverages.

In the latter department, there are apple cider, hot chocolate, mulled wine/mulled cider/hot buttered rum, spiced tea (like Constant Comment), flavor twists on cocktails (like a maple Old Fashioned), and the infamous Pumpkin Spice Latte (infamous for its 50g of sugar).

And then, there’s masala chai, which translates to “spiced tea” in English: masala means “spice blend” or “mixture of spices” in Hindi/Urdu‡, and chai is the word for tea.

Note that when someone asks for “chai tea,” in English, they’re asking for “tea tea,” since “chai” already means tea! This is called redundant translation, and if you enjoy learning the quirks of language, check out the ‡‡footnote.

The full term “masala chai” specifically refers to tea brewed with a blend of aromatic spices like cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and black pepper, along with milk and sugar.
 
 
CHAI COMES TO THE U.S.

While everything else on the fall beverage list has been on American menus for centuries, chai has only become nationally popular since the end of the 19th century, when artisan tea companies began to add it to their line. See the history of chai below.

The recipe that follows, from Jill Winger of The Prairie Homestead is, pleasantly sweet and spicy, but not too sweet or too spicy. After you try the first batch, you can make it sweeter and/or spicier.

Use your sweetener of choice, or none at all so that people (dieters, the sugar-averse) can have their drink as they prefer. The recipe follows, but first, tea lovers can mark this whole list of tea holidays:

> The year’s 23 tea holidays.

> The history of masala chai is below.

> The history of tea.

> The different types of tea: a photo glossary.
 
 
RECIPE: CHAI CONCENTRATE

Ingredients For 1 Quart Of Concentrate

 
Preparation

1. BRING the water and sweetener to a boil in a medium pot, and simmer until the sweetener is fully dissolved.

2. ADD all of the spices, and continue to simmer on low heat for 20 minutes.

3. REMOVE the mixture from the heat, add the tea bags, and let them steep for 10 minutes.

4. STRAIN out the spices and tea bags and store the concentrate in the fridge (it will last for several weeks).

5. SERVE: Mix the chai concentrate 1:1 with milk. Gently heat in a small saucepan until it reaches the desired temperature (we heated it for 2:45 minutes in our microwave; yours may take less or more time). Pour into a mug and enjoy…perhaps with some graham crackers.
 
Recipe Tips

The original masala chai (masala means spice, chai means tea), is very different from the contemporary recipe. The first version was an ancient Indian ayurvedic beverage—a cleansing spice tonic that did not include any tea.

When the British began to establish tea plantations in Assam, in 1835, they added milk and sweetener to their tea, as they did at home. At the time, tea was too expensive for most Indians and was largely grown for export (this is unfortunately true of other third-world crops, including coffee).

In the early 1900s, the British-owned Indian Tea Association began to promote tea consumption to Indian consumers. Because black tea was still an expensive ingredient, vendors used milk, sugar and spices—the ingredients of today’s masala chai—to create a flavorful drink while keeping costs down.

The drink’s popularity spread throughout India and became even more popular in the 1960s, when mechanized tea production made black tea affordable for the common man.
 
 
TEA TRIVIA: After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world. Coffee takes third place.
 
 
________________

*CHAI VS. TEA: All related forms of the word chai—Turkish çay, Russian/Persian/Hindi/Urdu chay, etc.—derive from the original Mandarin, cha. Cha became the Cantonese, Mandarin and Japanese word for tea. Other Chinese dialects have different words; e.g. the Wu dialect spoken around Shanghai uses the word zu and the Hokkien dialect spoken around the port of Xiamen in the Fujian province uses the word tay. The word “cha” traveled to the Middle East and Eastern countries, while “tay” traveled to Europe and became our word for tea.

Xiamen was the port of trade first used by Europeans (mainly the Portuguese) in 1541. Near the end of the Ming Dynasty, in 1644, British merchants set up trading posts there; in the 19th century, it was China’s main port for exporting tea. As a result, the Hokkien dialect spoken there, not Mandarin which traveled west via overland trade routes, influenced what Europeans called the beverage. What the Xiamenese people call tay, the British spell tea, the French spell thé, the Spanish té, the Italians tè and the Germans, tee. The pronunciation varies from “tay” to “tee.”

Other words from the Hokkien language that entered English: ketchup (kiô-chap), Pekoe (pekh-hô), kowtow (khàu-thâu) and Japan (Jit-pún).

†Cream tea is a refreshment of a baked scone with jam and clotted cream, served with a cup of tea. It is traditionally enjoyed in the afternoon, often after lunch; but is much simpler than the more elaborate afternoon tea. It originated in the southwest of England in Devon and Cornwall, but now can be found all around the U.K.

‡Hindi and Urdu are very closely related languages that share the same grammatical structure and much of their vocabulary, but they differ in several key ways. Briefly, Hindi is the official language of India (along with English). Urdu is more associated with Islamic culture and was historically the court language of Muslim rulers in the Indian subcontinent. Urdu is the national language of Pakistan and also spoken by Muslims in India.

In everyday conversation, Hindi and Urdu speakers can easily understand each other: The spoken forms are essentially the same language. In writing, however, Hindi uses the Devanagari script (the same used for Sanskrit) while Urdu uses a modified Arabic script, written right to left.

Linguistically, many scholars consider them to be two standardized forms of the same language, sometimes called Hindustani.
 
‡‡“Redundant translation” or “RAS syndrome” (Redundant Acronym Syndrome) occurs when English speakers combine a foreign word with its English equivalent. This happens because as foreign words enter English, speakers often lose awareness of the original meaning and treat them as proper nouns or specific terms rather than translations. The redundancy helps clarify meaning for English speakers who might not know the foreign word’s literal translation. Examples:

Food Terms:
> Chai tea (chai = tea)
> Gyro sandwich (gyro = a type of sandwich/wrap)
> Naan bread (naan = bread)
> Panini sandwich (panini = sandwiches, plural of panino)
> Queso cheese (queso = cheese in Spanish)
> Salsa sauce (salsa = sauce)
>Shrimp scampi (scampi = shrimp in Italian)

Geographic Terms:
> Sahara Desert (Sahara = desert in Arabic)
> Rio Grande River (Rio = river in Spanish)
> Mount Fujiyama (yama = mountain in Japanese; it’s just “Mount Fuji” or “Fujisan”)
> La Brea Tar Pits (la brea = the tar in Spanish)

Other Examples:
> PIN number (PIN = Personal Identification Number)
> ATM machine (ATM = Automated Teller Machine)
> HIV virus (HIV = Human Immunodeficiency Virus)
> LCD display (LCD = Liquid Crystal Display)

Most English speakers use redundant terms unconsciously and without any intent to be redundant: They’ve simply learned the phrases that way. However, in academic or professional contexts precision matters. Even in social situations, should you correct someone? Yes, if you perceive that the person would welcome the knowledge.
 
 

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

A few weeks ago, we received a pitch promoting particular wines for International Châteauneuf du Pape day, held on the third Friday in September (today). It inspired us to write about the wine, one of our favorite reds.

In France, wines are named after their communes (think village or county), departments (think state) or regions.

The village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape lies in the Southern Rhone, north of the city of Avignon.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape (pronounced pop) isn’t a wine common to American wine lists these days. It’s pretty pricey, with top bottles going for $100 more at retail, before the restaurant mark-up.

But in our youth, when even the best wines were more or less affordable, Châteauneuf-du-Pape was a staple at top steakhouses. If you could afford the steak, you could afford the wine.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape is the largest and most important wine appellation in the southern Rhône. Ninety-five percent of the wines are red, with rich red-fruit aromas, strong fruit flavors and plenty of spice and high alcohol (14%).

The best wines may also exhibit notes of garrigue, a term for the herby aroma of the Proveçal underbrush.

A small amount of white wine is produced, but it is typically consumed locally. Regulations do not allow the production of rosé wine [source].
 
 
IS IT NAMED FOR A CASTLE (CHÂTEAU)?

There’s a 14th-century medieval castle in ruins at the top of the hill, but the town isn’t named for the castle.

Rather, the first mention of the village is in a Latin document from 1094 that uses the name Castro Novo, referring to a new village. At that time castro, or château in French, was used to denote a fortified village, rather than the mansion it later came to denote.

In 1309s, Pope Clement V, the “pape” in Châteauneuf du Pape, moved the papacy to Avignon. A total of seven popes resided for the next 67 years.

He and subsequent popes loved the local wine, and encouraged more viticultural in the area. As a result, almost all of the cultivable land is planted with grape vines.

By the 16th century, the village was officially called Châteauneuf du Pape.
 
 
THE WINES OF CHÂTEAUNEUF DU PAPE

The Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation is an A.O.C.* (appelation origine contrôlée), meaning that by law it can only be produced locally, from specific grapes grown in the commune of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and in portions of four adjoining communes.

Almost all wines from the Southern Rhône are blends. Châteauneuf-du-Pape is no different.

Grenache is the most widely planted grape, but by law 18 grapes† are allowed in the blend. Winemakers use different grape selections and percentages based on what they are trying to achieve.

Grenache is followed by Mourvèdre, Syrah and Cinsault. And yes, some vintners use all 18 grapes, and a few use 100% grenache.

A popular blending template is known as GSM: Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre.

 
Even the glass bottles distinguish themselves, with a textured crest on the top half of the bottle (photos #1 and #2; some vintners forgo the expense and use conventional bottles).
 
 
WHAT TO BUY

Consult with your wine store clerk about the options at hand, and their peak drinking times (some are ready to drink now, some aren’t).

What you need to be aware of is that there are three tiers of price/quality:

 
Treat yourself to a bottle, and share it with your favorite red wine lovers.

—Kris Prasad

[1] Château de Beaucastel, a world-renowned Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine (photo courtesy Lipman Events).

[2] The crest of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, used by many of the wine producers (photo © Joe Fisher | Flickr. All rights reserved.

[3] Château La Nerthe, priced in the middle range (photo courtesy Snooth).

[4] Château Mont-Redon, another mid-tier wine (photo courtesy The Local Drop).

[5] Another of the greats, Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe (photo courtesy Benchmark Wine Group).

*A.O.C., an abbreviation of appellation d’origine contrôlée, is a legal designation that places rigid standards on how and where a French product can be produced. This ensures consistent quality and preserves its reputation, and distinguishes an authentic product (e.g., Parmigiano Reggiano) from a generic one (e.g. parmesan cheese).

†The grapes, in order of use are Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault, Clairette, Grenache Blanc, Bourboulenc, Roussanne, Counoise, Muscardin, Vaccarese, Picpoul Picardan, and Terret Noir. Very recently, additional varieties have been added by law for a total of 18 varieties.