Yumiam recipe · French classic
Potato gratin
Five ingredients, no cheese, no par-boiling. The version that never turns watery and holds its shape on the spoon — the one you make again without thinking about it.
A potato gratin is made with raw potatoes, cream, milk, garlic and nutmeg, baked for an hour and ten minutes at 150 °C. It contains no cheese, and the slices are never rinsed: the starch left on their surface is what thickens the cream as it bakes.
- No cheese — the golden top comes from cream reducing in the oven.
- No rinsing — the starch on the slices is what binds the dish.
- 150 °C for an hour and ten, not 180 °C — the cream reduces without splitting.
Method
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Prepare the dish
Rub an ovenproof dish with a halved garlic clove, then butter it. Heat the oven to 150 °C fan.
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Slice without rinsing
Peel the potatoes and cut them into 3 mm slices. Pat them dry in a tea towel, and never run them under water.
The detail that decides it: the starch on the surface is what will thicken the cream. Rinsing the slices guarantees a watery gratin.
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Build the layers
Mix the cream and milk, season, add the nutmeg and the second garlic clove, crushed. Pack the slices in tight layers and pour the mixture in until it reaches the top.
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Bake slowly
Give it an hour and ten at 150 °C. A knife should go through without resistance and the top should be golden without drying out.
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Let it settle
Take the dish out and wait fifteen minutes before serving. That rest is what lets the gratin hold its shape on the spoon.