flipCroque-monsieur from the Flore
Croque-monsieur from the Flore
Why this dish? Born in a café on the Boulevard des Capucines around 1910, the croque-monsieur reigns in the cafés where Sartre lived. The quintessential hot snack when hunger cuts into writing without wanting to lose your table.
Two slices of toasted bread, ham and melted Gruyère, gratinéed in the oven. The hot sandwich of the rushed Parisian, crispy outside, melting inside.
When you write for ten hours straight, there comes a moment when the body demands its due, and the mind can't afford to wait for a real meal. So I would order this sandwich that "crunches" under the tooth — bread, ham, cheese that stretches — and off you go again. That's the commitment of the Parisian of my time: eating standing or almost, without ceremony, keeping the essential for conversation. You'll see, it's less a dish than a parenthesis between two ideas.
- •Sliced bread — 4 slices (base)
- •Cooked ham — 2 slices (filling)
- •Gruyère — a good handful, grated (melting)
- •Butter — to taste (browning)
- •Milk, flour, butter — for a béchamel (creamy binder (optional))
Croque-monsieur from the Flore
Two slices of toasted bread, ham and melted Gruyère, gratinéed in the oven. The hot sandwich of the rushed Parisian, crispy outside, melting inside.
Why this dish? Born in a café on the Boulevard des Capucines around 1910, the croque-monsieur reigns in the cafés where Sartre lived. The quintessential hot snack when hunger cuts into writing without wanting to lose your table.
When you write for ten hours straight, there comes a moment when the body demands its due, and the mind can't afford to wait for a real meal. So I would order this sandwich that "crunches" under the tooth — bread, ham, cheese that stretches — and off you go again. That's the commitment of the Parisian of my time: eating standing or almost, without ceremony, keeping the essential for conversation. You'll see, it's less a dish than a parenthesis between two ideas.
Ingredients (period version)
- Sliced bread — 4 slices (base)
- Cooked ham — 2 slices (filling)
- Gruyère — a good handful, grated (melting)
- Butter — to taste (browning)
- Milk, flour, butter — for a béchamel (creamy binder (optional))
Ingredients
- Sliced bread — 4 thick slices (base)
- Cooked ham — 2 slices (filling)
- Grated Gruyère or Comté — 120 g (melting)
- Butter — 20 g (browning)
- Milk — 200 ml (béchamel)
- Flour — 20 g (béchamel)
- Nutmeg — a grating (flavor)
Method
- Make a quick béchamel: melt the butter, add the flour, then the milk while whisking; season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg until thickened.
- Lightly butter the bread slices and toast briefly.
- Fill one slice with ham, a little béchamel, and Gruyère; top with another slice.
- Spread the remaining béchamel on top, cover with grated Gruyère.
- Bake at 200°C (or under the broiler) until the top is golden and bubbling. Serve piping hot.
How it was made : The croque-monsieur appeared on Parisian café menus around 1910; it is even mentioned by Proust in 1918. Originally it was simply pressed and grilled bread, ham, and cheese; the béchamel on top came later for extra creaminess.
The contemporary twist : Top it with a fried egg and it becomes a "croque-madame" — the gratinéed cheese hat becomes its headpiece.
Jean-Paul Sartre · Charactorium
