DisputedOrigin is disputed
mornay
adjective · first attested 19th century
Nobody can settle whether the sauce honors a French village or a Huguenot diplomat.
Served in a white sauce enriched with cheese.
Record
- Relationship
- Origin is disputed
- Confidence
- DisputedCompeting explanations remain live.
- Attested
- 19th century
- Part of speech
- adjective
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Mornay
- In English
mornay
One account points to the commune of Mornay in Saône-et-Loire. Another names Philippe de Mornay, the Protestant writer and governor of Saumur who died in 1623, but béchamel, the base of the sauce, did not exist in his lifetime, which weakens the claim. The sauce as cooks know it shows up in French kitchens only in the nineteenth century.
France
All 57 entries 56 more words from France
denimThe cloth is named for Nîmes, not for jeans.NîmesbayonetThe blade is traditionally tied to a port in the Basque country.BayonnechampagneThe drink is a place-name first, a party word second.ChampagnecognacThe brandy is the town’s name in a glass.CognaccayenneThe heat is named for a capital on the Atlantic coast of South America.CayennelimousineThe luxury car is named for a cloak from Limousin.LimogesroquefortThe blue cheese is a village in the Aveyron.Roquefort-sur-SoulzoncamembertThe cheese is a Norman village.Camembert