Are gratin and au gratin the same thing?!
Gratin - baked with a covering of buttered crumbs or grated cheese until a crust or crisp surface forms.
Au Gratin - covered with bread crumbs, butter, and cheese and then browned.
The biggest difference is that Au Gratin has come to mean that cheese is on top of the dish, where as a Gratin could just have buttered breadcrumbs.
Answers: Some people use them interchangeably, but they aren't exactly the same thing.
Gratin - baked with a covering of buttered crumbs or grated cheese until a crust or crisp surface forms.
Au Gratin - covered with bread crumbs, butter, and cheese and then browned.
The biggest difference is that Au Gratin has come to mean that cheese is on top of the dish, where as a Gratin could just have buttered breadcrumbs.
Gratin is a french term it means to brown.
You add Au to Gratin and it becomes with brown
Au gratin potatoes dont have to have cheese on top to be browned they can have bread crumbs instead