Croque Madame Vs. Monsieur: Is There A Difference?

There are a lot of great sandwiches in the world. Among those that always seem to make the list of the most beloved are Vietnam's banh mi, Louisiana's po' boy, Cuba's Cuban, Philly's cheesesteak, and France's croque monsieur. If you've ever seen the latter on a menu (either abroad or here in America), you've likely also seen its counterpart, the croque madame. They are almost identical, but there is one key difference. First, both sandwiches are made by placing ham and cheese — usually Gruyère (a go-to cheese for French onion soup) or Emmental — between slices of white bread. The bread is buttered and the sandwich is grilled until browned and then topped with béchamel or Mornay sauce (which is simply a béchamel with cheese added). Basically, this is a luxurious and glorified grilled ham and cheese sandwich.

Once the sauce is added, the sandwich is placed under a broiler until it is golden brown. At this point, you have a croque monsieur. To create a croque madame, you add a fried egg on top, right before serving (here's how to cook sunny side up eggs with no raw whites). The domed egg looks like a woman's wide-brimmed hat, thus, transitioning the sandwich from masculine to feminine. 

Both sandwiches are rich and cheesy, but the egg adds an extra layer of flavor and lusciousness. Unlike a plain ham and cheese sandwich, you'll definitely want to eat both a croque monsieur and croque madame with a knife and fork.

The croque monsieur and croque madame are both classic French bistro dishes, and popular lunchtime choices. Depending on where you dine, you might find several variations of the sandwich, all which are essentially prepared the same, but with certain ingredients substituted for either the ham or the cheese, or simply added to the traditional sandwich. 

A croque monsieur poulet has grilled chicken instead of ham. Croque provençal simply adds tomato slices and herbs; croque norvégien substitutes smoked salmon for the ham; and croque tartiflette will have thinly sliced potatoes and super-creamy Reblochon cheese — a great recipe if you have an abundance of potatoes.

You can add slices of grilled pineapple to a croque monsieur and it becomes a croque Hawaiian, and if you add salsa and Spanish cheese, you'll have a croque señor. The indulgent Monte Cristo sandwich can also be considered a spin on this traditional French sandwich: It takes a croque monsieur without the béchamel sauce, and dunks it in an egg batter before the whole thing is deep fried and served with a shower of powdered sugar. Sometimes, turkey is added to the ham and cheese filling, and it may be served with a side of sweet, fruity jam.