dauphinois potatoes

This particular recipe came from a fancy downtown Philadelphia restaurant. For over 20 years I thought the name of the restaurant was Dauphino's. Learned while trying to find out more about the restaurant last year that the food name is dauphinois potatoes. It refers to the style of cooking in cream & the region in France where it originated.  So now I have no clue what the actual name of the restaurant is/was. It doesn't matter. These potatoes are amazing with prime rib. Or by themselves. It has been a favorite part of our holiday meal for a long time. This year I've decided to honor the spaghetti monster with lasagna instead but please enjoy this delicious high calorie artery clogging recipe in your own homes.

OMG Mike;
Those sound outstanding!!!  I think we will be trying those out very soon!
Thanks for Sharing!

Was reminded of this excellent holiday dish.

The name, dauphinois, roughly translated, means 'of the prince'. So, my (very poorly educated) guess would be 'the prince's potatoes' or 'potatoes fit for the prince'. Rather apropos, for a holiday feast!

The Province du Dauphiné was a region of France near Switzerland, the people living there were called the Dauphinois, hence the name of the "Gratin Dauphinois".  Personally, I cook it  with cream only and it gets enhanced by a touch of grated nutmeg.  There is also a "Gratin Savoyard" from the nearby  Savoie region, (funny enough the people there are called Savoyards) where the cream is replaced by milk and cheese, sometimes 1/2 cream, 1/2 milk.  The cheese used is always a Swiss cheese, either Gruyere, Comté or Emmenthal.

The Prince Dauphin was the title attributed to the eldest son of the kings of France and has nothing to do with the gratin.  Dauphin in French also means dolphin and it definitely has nothing to do with the gratin!