Sweet potato gratin is a savory baked dish made with cream, spices, and thin slices of raw sweet potato. It is usually topped with breadcrumbs or grated cheese and served as a side dish. Cream is an important component for texture and flavor, and meat is rarely added. The dish is popular in North and Central America, where sweet potatoes are widely grown.
Sweet potato gratin is a baked dish in which sweet potatoes are combined with cream and savory spices in a saucepan. Most often, gratin is topped with breadcrumbs or various grated cheeses. It is generally served as an accompaniment to meat preparations or other substantial appetizers.
The “au gratin” form of cooking originated in France, but sweet potato preparations are most popular in North and Central America, where the sweet potato is both indigenous and widely grown for consumption. Different cooks have different ways of putting together sweet potato gratin dishes, but most end products have three characteristics. All are cooked, for starters. They usually involve thin slices or small pieces of raw sweet potato. Finally, all are generally savory, using sharp cheeses, fresh herbs, and powerful spices to balance out the potato’s natural sweetness.
Most gratins are assembled in layers. Cooks will arrange thin slices of sweet potato in a shallow roasting pan, then add a splash of heavy cream or whole milk. Other ingredients such as caramelized onions, roasted vegetables or even other potato varieties can also be added.
Meat is one of the only things that is almost never incorporated. Adding meats would make a sweet potato casserole that could serve as a main dish. Gratins are almost always designed to be side dishes or accompaniments and are usually best kept simple.
Cream is almost always an important component when making gratin dishes, particularly when sweet potatoes are involved. Raw sweet potatoes are usually dry and quite dense. Cooking potatoes in liquid is one way to keep them, as they absorb moisture when heated. Choosing a rich cream enhances the flavor of the sweet potatoes and also adds a certain decadence to the dish as a whole.
More diet-conscious cooks can use milk or thinner liquids like chicken broth in the sweet potato gratin, although these will impact the overall texture of the dish. One of the most distinctive traits of a sweet potato gratin is its texture. What goes into the oven as a plate filled with separate components comes out as a unified whole that holds together, even when cut into slices. The cream in many respects acts as a binding agent, causing the potatoes to stick to each other. Other liquids hydrate potatoes, but presentation often suffers.
While it is possible to create a sweet or sugary gratin, this is rare. Some cooks will add cinnamon or other sweet spices to a sweet potato gratin, but these are usually balanced out with pepper, cheese, and herbs. Many sweet potato preparations are designed to be topped with sugar crusts and candied nuts, but gratin doesn’t fall into this category. Gratins are generally viewed as a means of making sweet potatoes savory.
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