Every dauphinoise recipe you’ve seen is wrong. No cheese. No garlic. No nutmeg. No egg. Just potato, cream, milk, butter — and four hours low and slow.
This is how they make it in the Dauphiné, up near the Alps. Rich enough to stand up to a wood-fired steak, simple enough that the potato and dairy actually taste like themselves. Full recipe below.
Chef’s Notes:
* Waxy yellow potatoes only (Charlotte, Desiree, or Yukon Gold) — floury ones fall apart over 4 hours
* Keep the 3:2 cream-to-milk ratio and bring the liquid ~5mm above the potatoes
* Bake in a bain-marie so the cream doesn’t split
* Rest 30 minutes before serving — it sets and the flavour settles
* Makes ahead beautifully; reheat gently when you’re ready
RECIPE
Ingredients:
* 1.2kg large yellow-fleshed waxy potatoes (Desiree or Charlotte)
* 300ml double cream
* 200ml whole milk
* 50g butter
* Sea salt flakes and fresh-cracked black pepper
Method:
* Bain-marie, covered — 140°C fan, 2 hours
* Uncovered — further 2 hours, until golden and completely soft
* Rest 30 minutes before serving
I’m Matthew Ryle — Executive Chef at Maison + Café François, London, and author of French Classics. This channel is where restaurant technique meets your home kitchen.
My cookbook, French Classics, is available now — link in bio.
🇫🇷 MORE FRENCH CLASSICS VIDEOSFrench Classics Playlist
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:18 Origins in Dauphiné
1:10 Choosing the Potato
1:52 Cream to Milk Ratio
2:17 Layering the Dish
3:18 Bain-Marie Bake
3:43 Resting & Serving
27 Comments
Lose a bit of my finger when i make this too
I really like your channel Matthew, I especially like the way you explain the history of each dish you’re preparing. I’m a new subscriber to the channel and I just thought I would reach out. Thanks man.
(John from California)
I put in the warm milk 1-2 Garlic(press) and a few Cayenne Pepper!
looks amazing always. Where do you get your pans & cookwear from please?
Delicious!
Have you used all the mix milk and cream?
Interesting, that looks lovely – I can see how this is essentially the original way. I use the Alain Ducasse method, on the basis that he knows a thing or two, which cooks the potatoes very slowly and gently in milk first, reducing the milk down as it cooks, then layers up the potato/milk combination in the gratin pan with a lot of creme fraiche, but he does add some nutmeg and herbs to the milk at the beginning. I may have to opt for your method as it's certainly simpler.
I'm sorry, but this is one of those cases where the original recipe is simply not as good as what is generally done by chefs today. Believe it or not, adding a subtle herb like thyme, a hint of spice from nutmeg, a touch of garlic and possibly cheese, is an improvement.
The concept is very similar to that of the Quiche Lorraine. People who put cheese into a quiche and call it "Quiche Lorraine" are deluded: they have just made a quiche, nothing more, and certainly NOT a Lorraine.
Gorgeous!
“France” is a nation and thus incapable of making a potato dish.
“The French” are able to cook.
Shaking my head here….no garlic….dear oh dear…
Décidement, aucun anglo-saxons ne sait faire le gratin dauphinois : l'ail et la noix de muscade sont OBLIGATOIRES !!
No garlic? Can a very slow oven replace a bain-marie?
Really enjoyed how this one was shot. Elegant.
Sometimes hard core original recipes deserve improvement ingredients, garlic is one of them, for sure !!! Cheers and hugses.
Nobody puts milk in gratin in france
"Authentic recipe" the thumbnail is AI generated…
My mother used to make this and called it scalloped potatoes. Not sure she'd bake it for 4 hours – probs closer to an hour or 1.5 hours and cheese as well. I HATED it as a kid – as an adult I'd swim in it.
Delish, on my to do list, thanks for sharing
Interesting. I'm always interested in true French recipes. I've subscribed.
2:41 man. Look at these potatoes on the left. What da.. 🤢🤢🤢
whithout garlic, it’s not a ”gratin dauphinois ”, it’s only a simple potatoes gratin whitout taste and flavour
I love Dauphinoise potato. It’s one of my favourite foods. Make Gratin de Coquillettes next, it’s French mc and cheese that’s better than mc and cheese.
Honestly, it looks delicious; I’m going to follow your recipe today, and then I’ll come back to comment on your video and let you know how it turned out!
such a beautiful recipe thank you and unadulterated by unnecessary additional seasonings in it's purest form delicious
"every other recipe is wrong" "there's no cheese" pick a lane mate, because if you serve me potatoes daphne and there's no cheese, I'm spitting my dummy well out.
Not heard of Charlotte spuds, is there a supermarket that does em in UK or is it more of a green grocers kind of affair ?
EDIT: I could've just googled it before asking. Sainsburys does em.
EDIT2 so your thing about splitting and filling with water, that's something new to me, what's the thing behind it ? The steam just stops the splitting ?
Is it 1,2 kgs of pdt peeled or not ?