At its core, gratin is a cooking technique where you get a crisp, golden crust on top of a dish. Usually, that crust comes from cheese, breadcrumbs, or a creamy sauce that gets broiled or baked into oblivion.
Think of it as the culinary equivalent of a sunburn, but tasty. The French word “gratter” means “to scrape,” which is what you do to get the last bits of crust from the pan. Or, more realistically, what you do when your roommate tries to steal the crispy corner piece.
Technically, any dish can be “à la gratin” if it gets that top crust. But in polite society, we just call it a gratin, and we don’t judge you for eating it at 2 a.m. straight from the dish.
