When cooking potato gratin, usually we use mixture of milk and cream. But I never know what does milk and cream do here? So I just want to ask what is milk and cream function here? Thanks.
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The milk and the cream are the liquid part of the roux--where you mix the flour and butter to start the sauce, then when it gathers, you add the milk and cream to make the smooth sauce. Full cream adds flavor (and more calories from the fat which gives it the flavor) to the dish. If your recipe specifically calls for milk and cream--the originator probably reduced the butter in the recipe to account for the extra fat from the cream--OR, maybe they just wanted a super rich flavor and kept the butter proportion in the roux the same and just split the liquid to milk and cream using the cream to add that velvety richness that it brings to dishes.
I have made mine with just skim milk and it is still just as tasty.
When I started cutting calories many years ago, I researched (in cookbooks as this was long before Google) alternate recipes. Like I said, now I use skim milk and a skim cheese when I make mine and it tastes good. You still get the rich taste from the buttered crumbs that are toasted to make it a true gratin and not just scalloped potatoes.
Think about what you would have if you did not use milk and cream. Just potatoes and cheese (butter in place of 'liquid'?) but no 'creamy sauce' and that's what makes the dish.
Gratin Dauphinois (Potato Gratin) is a French dish. Today, it is a staple of French gastronomy and is one of the Top 10 of the best French specialties.
It is known that the term gratin dauphinois was first mentioned on July 12, 1788. This dish was served during a dinner for the officers of the town of Gap given by Duke Charles-Henri de Clermont-Tonnerre, who was lieutenant general of Dauphiné. The Dauphiné region is located in the south-eastern quarter of France, today it is part of three departments: Isère, Drôme, Hautes-Alpes and part of the Rhône. The potato is the basis of the gratin dauphinois. The Dauphiné region produced a lot of milk. Therefore, it is not surprising that they tried to cook potatoes this way.
The original recipe for gratin dauphinois relies on crème fraîche, flooding the potato slices to allow them to cook. In doing so, they become impregnated with cream and become as soft as you want. Crème fraîche (pronounced "krem fresh") is a version of sour cream with a higher fat content, which makes it good for cooking because it is less prone to curdling when you simmer it. While it looks similar to sour cream, crème fraîche is thicker, richer, and tastes less tangy than cream.
The potatoes need to cook in a liquid. Of course, it can be water, but the cooks wanted to get the most delicious dish, so milk is used as a liquid in this dish. Using milk will make it more unctuous and tasty, and will gather the starch to create the link of the dish.
It makes the dish smooth and moist
The milk and cream make the sauce part, otherwise you would have semi-hard potato slices in buttery grease. The milk and cream keep the potato slices moist and creamy.
You have to have a liquid. If you are watching calories, you can use milk or skim milk and skip the cream.
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