French word

gratin

Pronunciation

IPA/gʁatɛ̃/

Meaning

  • masculine noungratin

Example

Tu veux un peu de gratin ?

Would you like some gratin?

Illustration for gratin (gratin)

More examples

J'ai préparé un gratin pour le dîner.

I prepared a gratin for dinner.

Core concept

Soft ingredients held together beneath a crisp, browned topping after oven baking.

Common phrases

  • un gratin

    a gratin

  • gratin de pommes de terre

    potato gratin

Similar words

plat: A single dish of food served as part of a meal.
casserole: A dish cooked in a deep vessel in the oven or on the stovetop.
quiche: A savory tart filled with egg and cream custard and baked in pastry.
lasagne: A baked dish of layered flat pasta, sauce, and fillings.

Definition in French

Plat cuit au four dans un plat allant au four, lié souvent par une sauce (par exemple une béchamel) et recouvert de fromage ou de chapelure, ce qui forme une croûte gratinée.

Word origin

Gratin is related to gratter, 'to scrape', through the browned food scraped from a pan; gratiner is the later verb for browning a surface.

Usage tips

  • Gratin is masculine, so the usual article is un gratin or le gratin.

Related words

  • gratinerbrown under the broilerverb
  • gratinébrownedadjective

Word lists with this word