# Why are scalloped potatoes scalloped? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 15, 2008, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-scalloped-potatoes-scalloped/468093 "2008-10-15T21:19:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-scalloped-potatoes-scalloped/468093/1 "2008-10-15T21:19:54Z")
Obviously, the answer to the literal question in the topic is ‘because that’s tasty’, but as I sit here, eating my dinner, which includes said tasty side dish, I wonder…why are they called that? They don’t look like scallops, they’re not made with scallops, they don’t taste like scallops… ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-scalloped-potatoes-scalloped/468093/2 "2008-10-15T21:22:24Z")
Maybe they mean scalloped as in scalloping, curved edges, since that’s sort of how you cut the potatos? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-scalloped-potatoes-scalloped/468093/3 "2008-10-15T21:25:18Z")
From [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scallop): > [@](#): > > Scallops have lent their name to the culinary term scalloped, which originally referred to seafood creamed and served hot in the shell (Rombauer 1964). Today it means a creamed casserole dish such as scalloped potatoes, which contains no seafood at all. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-scalloped-potatoes-scalloped/468093/4 "2008-10-15T21:28:56Z")
Oddly enough, \*Scalloppini \*refers to the cut of the meat, and not the cream. > **[Scaloppine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scaloppine)** > > Scaloppine (plural and diminutive of scaloppa—a small scallop, i.e., a thinly sliced cut of meat; is a type of Italian dish that comes in many forms. It consists of thinly sliced meat, most often beef, veal, or chicken, that is dredged in wheat flour and sautéed in one of a variety of reduction sauces. > The sauce accompanying scaloppine can come in many varieties according to regional gastronomic traditions. Popular variations include tomato-wine reduction; scaloppine al limone or piccata, whic... ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-scalloped-potatoes-scalloped/468093/5 "2008-10-15T21:29:15Z")
The “scalloped” refers to the way they’re cooked…baked covered in bread crumbs. This might help: [http://www.practicallyedible.com/edible.nsf/encyclopaedia!openframeset&frame=Right&Src=/edible.nsf/pages/scallop!opendocument](http://www.practicallyedible.com/edible.nsf/encyclopaedia!openframeset&frame=Right&Src=/edible.nsf/pages/scallop!opendocument) ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-scalloped-potatoes-scalloped/468093/6 "2008-10-15T21:36:35Z")
For some reason, I have always detested scalloped potatoes. Possibly because it was one dish that my mother just couldn’t do well… but I’ve never run into any I liked any better. Glad to know the origin of the name, though. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-scalloped-potatoes-scalloped/468093/7 "2008-10-15T21:41:20Z")
Dankeshoen, all. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-scalloped-potatoes-scalloped/468093/8 "2008-10-15T21:56:49Z")
Because the word is [_escalloped_](http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,escalloped_potatoes,FF.html), I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-scalloped-potatoes-scalloped/468093/9 "2008-10-15T22:01:20Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > Because the word is [_escalloped_](http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,escalloped_potatoes,FF.html), I believe. Not according to [Merriam-Webster](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/escalloped). ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-scalloped-potatoes-scalloped/468093/10 "2008-10-16T02:34:15Z")
The term _scalloped_, as referring to anything to do with food, is cited in the OED in 1737. _Scalloped potatoes_ cited from 1884. What did the term mean to people in byegone days??? Maybe I’ll have time to look later. > [@](#): > > Cookery. (See SCALLOP v. 2.) > > 1737 Ochtertyre House Bk. Acc. (1907) 3 Scollopt oysters. 1791 HUDDESFORD Salmag. 93 And shoals of bawling choristers He ate, like scallop’d oysters. 1827 HONE Every-day Bk. II. 58 Stewed oysters! I ordered scolloped! 1877 Home Keeper’s Guide 45 Scalloped tomatoes. 1884 New Kentucky Home Cook Bk. 157 Scalloped potatoes. So, you’ve got _scalloped_ potatoes cited in English from 1884. What is past is prologue. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-scalloped-potatoes-scalloped/468093/11 "2008-10-16T03:52:54Z")
For much the same reason that mashed potatoes are mashed, and hashed potatoes are hashed. 😉