Gratin Dauphinois

Gratin dauphinois is thin potato slices layered with cream and garlic, baked slowly until the top browns and the inside turns completely soft. It's the Dauphiné region's potato gratin, and famously — a point locals defend fiercely — made without any cheese at all, unlike the many imitators that add a layer of it anyway.

What it actually is

Potato, sliced very thin and never rinsed of its starch, is layered in a shallow dish with garlic, salt, pepper and a scraping of nutmeg, then covered with a mix of cream and milk that just reaches the top layer. It bakes low and slow, uncovered, until the potato is completely soft all the way through and the surface has browned into a thin, lightly crisp crust — the starch released by the potato itself, not any added flour or cheese, is what thickens the cream into a coating sauce.

The absence of cheese is the whole identity of the dish; a version topped with a browned cheese crust is a different, more common but technically incorrect thing to call "gratin dauphinois."

How it's served

• Straight from the baking dish, cut into squares or scooped.
• Alongside roasted or braised meat, as a substantial side.
• Hot, since the cream sauce firms up and separates as it cools.

Writing it on a menu

• Flag dairy clearly; the cream-and-milk base carries it entirely.
• Say plainly that it's made without cheese, since many guests expect one and the distinction is a genuine point of regional pride.
• Note that it's naturally vegetarian, a straightforward option to flag among meat-forward sides on a menu.
• Mention that it needs real oven time; a gratin rushed at high heat browns on top before the potato inside is properly soft.