Croque-monsieur

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A croque-monsieur is the French version of the standard grilled ham and cheese sandwich but frequently is far more elaborately structured by the addition of a mornay or béchamel sauce. The simpler versions are grilled, but the elaborate ones with an additional sauce are generally baked or broiled at some stage in their preparation. It is the prototypical lunch or snack in a French café or bar but can also be found on the menus of bistros and brasseries. The origin of the name is uncertain and far from obvious: the verb croquer means to scrunch or crunch (or to sketch a drawing), and monsieur can mean mister, sir, or gentleman—the two words conjoined would seem to have little relevance to a hot sandwich.