A cooking method where a dish is topped with breadcrumbs or cheese and browned until crispy in an oven.
From French 'gratiner,' derived from Latin 'gratum' (grating or scraping). The term describes the crispy, grated top that forms when food is baked with a topping. French cuisine formalized this technique, with 'gratin dauphinois' becoming famous throughout Europe.
Gratin is pure alchemy—the chemistry of high heat turns starch and protein into a golden crust on top while keeping the inside creamy, and medieval cooks figured this out without understanding Maillard reactions, just through observation and repetition.
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