gratin de pommes de terre aux anchois

Julia Child might be trying to kill me.

When I bought the quart of heavy cream I was figuring it would last me two weeks or more- mainly going into the caramels, maybe the mousse.

I just baked potatoes and cream at a near equal ratio. The slight bit less of cream was made up for with three whole eggs. It's times like these I'm glad my mom works at a hospital and can be so helpful in getting my cholesterol checked.

Having said that, let me admit that I am fully aware there are much much healthier versions of these recipes, and that cream in amounts that make me swoon is not required to create a gratin that is delicious. That's not the point here. The point, is to try to create as classic a version of the dish as I can. I want to create and taste the original- and THEN I want to experiment with the modified versions, and try to get them closer to the original. In this case that included an entire shift of my viewpoint. I think of a gratin as a dish mostly of veggies, with a sauce poured over just barely to cover and give the veggies some liquid to cook in. This was somewhere between a gratin and a savory egg souffle. It actually puffed in the oven, and had a cooked egg custard-like top half inch under the thin top layer of browned raclette.


I also very much appreciate the simplicity of these recipes. It really forces me to think about every ingredient, and try to add the best possible, and also not add too much. most of the seasoning is just salt and pepper, so you really taste the elements of the dish, and how they work together. Sitting here trying to think about it, there is no one ingredient in the dish that stands out- each is a layer of flavor that plays it's role.

This is the kind of rich heady dish you might have as the side to a juicy roasted chicken-something that picks up on the main dishes sweetness, but has it's own dimension (anchovies).

The texture is beautiful-the kind of silky light custard you can only get from that much cream-from cream period. The flavor and the texture are linked- the fluffy eggs and cream, the potatoes that hold together more for for the looks of the dish, dissolving in your mouth so you only get ten seconds to identify the food before it's blended with the creamy custard that's carrying the sweet rich flavors of onions and anchovies. And ultimately, you devour the entire portion- because it's a side dish.

Or, like me, you go back to the full pan with a spoon after your much-more sensible chicken and rice entree and scoop up one more sweet rich spoonful as dessert.