The present participle of 'escallop,' meaning to cook food in a creamy sauce, often in a shell-shaped dish, or to create scalloped edges.
From 'escallop' plus '-ing' suffix. Both the cooking and decorative processes take their name from the shell's shape and appearance.
Escalloped potatoes became wildly popular in Victorian-era cooking—it was a way to make humble potatoes fancy by mimicking the shell patterns of luxury seafood!
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