Food is always a easy thing to get excited about for me, especially when it is my favorite, potatoes. On a recent visit to Monaco, I stumbled upon a classic food staple, made in a French (well Monaco, really) style. A baked potato with French cheese melted on top. Literally, two days before coming into Monaco's Christmas village and seeing this kiosk, I turned to my husband and said, "I think that I am hungry for a loaded baked potato." Now, I did not get a loaded one, but, believe me this may have been better.
The line to this little kiosk was one of the longest of all the food stalls. I walked up tho the ordering line and looked at all my options. They have two different types of potatoes that you can get. A baked potato with different toppings or what I would call scalloped potatoes. As you can see in the picture above, the scalloped potatoes are made in huge pans with pieces of potatoes and other ingredients such as ham, bacon, and other meats along with butter and cheese. I, of course, ordered the other option, a baked potato with ham and cheese.
While waiting in the long line to pick up my food, I was able to watch what exactly everyone was ordering and eating. Above is one of the scalloped potato options getting prepped before cheese (see below) and a sour cream-like mixture was added before going into the oven.
As you may have noticed, there is a giant slab of butter nearby for the woman to put on EVERYTHING. I can tell you that I saw three of these huge slabs of butter used while standing in line. The French do love their butter and I am thankful for this, because this was the best, buttery, baked potato that I have ever had (and I would never imagine using that much butter on my own).
Here is the making of a potato similar to what I had. They take giant potatoes that are already baked and split one in half, then another in thirds. They place the two halves plus one of the thirds into an aluminum tin and cover with a stick of butter. Then, depending on what you ordered on top of yours,(options were ham, mushrooms, tuna, garlic, bacon, basil, and cheese) they layered the ham (in my case), then the cheese and into the oven it goes.
Out comes the finished result, a gooey, rich, and delicious meal. It was definitely worth the wait. Sometimes the some of the best meals in life are the simplest and the ones that remind you of your childhood.
Bon appétit!
Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es.
Anthelme BRILLAT-SAVARIN, Physiologie du goût, Médiation IV, de l'appétit
Tell me what you eat and I'll tell you what you are.
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