I have a great ear and respect for languages and I try to pronounce foreign words as close as a native speaker would. I get a lot of sideway glances when I insist on saying moustache and garage just the way the French would. Michelangelo never becomes a Michael, and there is no “sh” sound in bruschetta. I like pronouncing the initial “g” in gnu, “p” in pneumonia, and “eks” in Xanadu, just because I can. I stick to proper Latin, so bona fide does not rhyme with hide and there is no night in ad infinitum. Do not even get me started on Russian.
I have passed this purist, snobbish trait on to my girls, and they suffer even more questioning looks and tilted heads. Husband tries to follow suit, to show his great appreciation for articulate and precise expression, but his Southern heritage shows its rubish head once in a while.
I taunted him on purpose yesterday when I told him that we are having pommes dauphinois for dinner. Oh, he knew that it was another Dorie night, and expected a barrage of incomprehensible guttural sounds from his hoity-toity wife. His inquisitive eyebrow raise granted him a translation of potato gratin, with a roled “r” and a nasal finish. I thought it was self-explanatory, turned away, and went on my merry way into the kitchen, digging through the drawers in quest for my mandoline (no, I was not going to serenade him; I am talking the other mandoline of the un-romantic, slice-your-finger fame, that renders even and thin slices of vegetables).
But Husband was still perplexed. I rolled my eyes (just to get back at the multitudinous eye-rolls coming my way for every computer-oriented question), and continued in an exasperated tone to dissect the process of making this dish. Half way through my exaggeratedly detailed explanation, a little light bulb illuminated Husband’s face and he exclaimed, “Well, that’s just like our southern potatoes au gratin!” In his best lower Appalachian accent it came out as “awg-rotten”. Did we have some fun with that one!
Husband is a writer and his command of the English language is formidable. He edits all my posts, and I usually hide under the table while he deletes my beautiful commas and adds the definite articles I tend to completely ignore. But foreign languages are not his strong suit. He does not mind if I correct him. I do not mind, as long as he continues with his merciless strategy of weeding out the undesirables in my prose.
We have certainly expressed our differences in pronouncing this simple, country fare that is a staple on many French tables. But when we cut into the creamy, garlicky, soft potatoes topped with the most beautiful golden-brown hue of sinfully rich melted cheese, we spoke the same language, void of articulation, grammar and style. We leaned back, eyes closed, the mouth slightly curved into a beatific smile, and regressed to a time of stocky, muscular humanoids with filthy, matted hair, dressed in uncured animal fur, uttering the sounds for which only a three month old baby would be praised.
Dorie Greenspan has scored again. The dish was simple, with minimal ingredients. The potatoes are peeled, sliced thinly, and layered, slightly overlapping, in a buttered oven-proof pie plate. Each layer is seasoned with salt and covered with a couple of tablespoons of garlic-infused heavy cream. The shredded cheese finishes the plate before it goes into the oven for the final step.
These potatoes were the centerpiece of our dinner. They were rich, but not overbearing. They were lusciously creamy and soft under the tongue. They imparted a wonderful tangy and salty note of melted cheese on top, heated to a delicate, golden veneer. And the garlic, steeped in cream, elevated the flavors up from mild without become obtrusive.
For the recipe go buy the book by Dorie Greenspan. It is worth every little coin you send. And for more posts on this recipe (and three others) visit French Fridays with Dorie.
What I delightful anecdote! Your photos are excellent! I love the browned cheese topping.
Gotta agree with the chunklet here.
Lana All I’m going to say is YUMMMMMM. Sounds like both you and your husband are good writers. Love the post as usual..B
A husband who edits…hold on to him!! Your potatoes look fabulous…you win, yours look better than mine did, and I thought mine looked very good indeed. Fun post. Great looking potatoes. Wonderful visiting with you.
Another brilliant commentary to go with a delicious dish!
OMG – where did you get such a gem of a husband that edits your posts for you? – he’s definitely a keeper! This dish looks positively divine – isn’t always just the simplest things that taste the best?!
Thanks for stopping by my blog the other day. Your comment about me being an early riser really made me smile, and if my partner had read that he would have just about wet his pants laughing as I am anything but – in fact he always calls me his “sleepyhead girlfriend” and says that he has never know anyone who can sleep as much as I can. I’m not sure what my time zone is in relation to yours, but I often find that I am on twitter at around the same time as you. I’m usually online between 11am and 4pm, occasionally a little later (for example right now it’s 6.30pm).
Hope you’re having a great weekend.
Sue x
You are so artsy! Language, photography, and chef skills… and a husband who shares his time and artsy talent too. Your post was fun to read and your potatoes look delicious!
Draga Lana, imala sam lektora za blog i to je trajalo svega 2 posta, a onda se lektor zaljubio i počeo rad na dva konkursa istovremeno i ode mast u propast. Moji postovi će ostati nepismeni, ali bar su slike lepe. Ništa gore nego kad čovek nešto nauči pogrešno prvi put, ispraviti je noćna mora. Zato uči decu kao i do sada pravom izgovoru i poreklu reči, a oni će svi prihvatiti ono što im odgovara i jednog dana znati da cene to.
I really enjoyed your post and also reading your profile. I can’t believe English is your second language. You write beautifully. The potatoes were gorgeous. Can’t wait to try them.
gratin or aug-rotten, they look scrumptious
. I’m looking forward to making this one later today!
Great post! I really enjoyed reading it and your profile. You do a great job! I can’t believe English is your second language. Your potato gratin looks amazing!
@Chunklet and @Serene, thanks! There are few things more delicious than a nice brown cheesy crust.
@Beth, thanks! Husband is a writer for real, and I am trying:) One of these days, who knows?
@Kayte, yes, he is a keeper. That’s why I feed him well:) And as for my gratin looking better than yours – I think it’s just a different camera angle.
@April, thanks! Do you have an idea how much it means to me coming from such an accomplished writer as yourself?
@Sue, he, he, when we met online, he seduced me with his eloquence. I knew that would come in handy one day:)
OK, I just Googled time difference between New Zealand and Los Angeles. You are 21 hours ahead of me, which works great, if we want to chat on Twitter:) I am not an early riser definitely, but there is the despicable job and lovable children to make me get up!
@Krissy, thanks! I chuckled when I read the bit about photography: I attend classes at the local community college, just to learn the basics, and it seems to me that everybody’s photos are better than mine:)
And husband better share his talents with me, or I’Il” cut him off my food and serve him gruel:)
@Jelena, ne znam šta bih radila da mi treba pravi lektor. Za srpski mi ne bi bio potreban, ali engleski mi još uvek zadaje sitne probleme. U stvari, postoje razlike izmedju srpskog i engleskog u interpunkciji, korišćenju zareza, tačke i zareza, zagrada, itd. Ja se povodim za onim što znam na srpskom, a muž posle ispravlja. Ma, ja se uvek bunim, al’ ne vredi:)
Što se tvojih slika tiče, stvarno su super. Meni je to najteži deo održavanja bloga.
@Kathy, thank you for visiting and kind words! I am so happy when somebody not related to me likes my writing:)
@Charli, yes, they were perfect autumnal fare. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.
Great post! So fun. Your potatoes look terrific. Thanks for sharing.
Your grtain looks superb. I have to say that until I saw Junior Masterchef last week, I did not know how to pronounce “dauphinois” – and was shown up by a 12 yo (admittedly named Pierre) who rolled it glibly off his tongue.
I don’t care if I can pronounce it or not ..if it tastes good..Im happy:). I made the PG too and it was rockin good! Im glad you and your family enjoyed it!
Ha ha, ur having fun with hubby arent u?
I loved this too and urs looks absolutely delicious!!
What a great post! My sister-in-law calls me the ‘word police’ and I have been known to send letters and emails regarding misspellings and misplaced apostrophes. I’m trying to get over it…
Oh, and your potato gratin looks delicious, but your husband’s pronunciation? Laugh out loud!
@Stephi, thanks! What can be bad about golden brown delicious creamy concoction?
@Cakelaw, but of course, Pierre would know! French is pretty tough to pronounce, and I forgive my loved ones if they fumble:)
@Flourchild, that’s my husband’s credo, too! He cannot pronounce half of the dishes I make, but he loves all of them! And yes, the gratin rocked.
@Summer, we had fun, indeed! Gratin looked and tasted great (but why would I expect anything less from Dorie?)
@Mary, we have that in common – I am trying to be better about correcting people, too, but sometimes it’s so hard to keep your mouth shut!
Yes, southern pronunciation is a cause of continuous entertainment in our house:)
Ovo mi izgleda kao savršena ručak (tako mi nazivamo svoj obrok u 18,30 navečer
)). Za Dorie sam čula ali nemam niti jednu kuharicu. Razmišljam da nabavim koju.
Što se tiče slikica, i meni predstavljaju najteži dio bloga. Uvijek se ulovim slikanja navečer ili predvečer, kada nema svjetla, rasvjeta u stanu mi je diskretna .
Yum! I have a similar recipe that the go-to side dish in our family.
Hee hee I totally do the same thing to a lot of words, especially food-related and especially especially Cantonese words. This Dorie Greenspan book is haunting me (in a good way) everywhere I look on the blogs… Does that mean it’s a sign that I need to get a copy for my bookshelf?
Angi, I am sure that I would have no clue how to pronounce any word in Cantonese properly, even though my father’s roommate in college was Chinese:) The sign? Absolutely! It is such a beautiful book and the dishes are simple to make and almost fool-proof.