Why 'le' tatin ?

MaartenC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Why 'le' tatin ?

I know the history of 'la tarte Tatin' and that 'tatin', has come to be applied, in cooking circles, to other 'upside down' tarts, but as 'tatin' is an (unofficial) abbreviation for 'tarte Tatin' should it not be une/la tatin ? The only dictionary I have found that references 'tatin' as a noun on its own, Robert en ligne, defines it as feminine.

https://dictionnaire.lerobert.com/definition/tatin

Asked 2 years ago
AurélieKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Bonjour Maarten !

Interesting topic :) 
I've myself always used the masculine when referring to a "savoury" tatin (de légumes etc), and so did my French caterer at my wedding :) 
After some research, it seems that either gender are perfectly acceptable in colloquial French, so in this dictée we'll stick with masculine, but know you can totally say "la tatin de légumes" as well :) 

Bonne journée !

Why 'le' tatin ?

I know the history of 'la tarte Tatin' and that 'tatin', has come to be applied, in cooking circles, to other 'upside down' tarts, but as 'tatin' is an (unofficial) abbreviation for 'tarte Tatin' should it not be une/la tatin ? The only dictionary I have found that references 'tatin' as a noun on its own, Robert en ligne, defines it as feminine.

https://dictionnaire.lerobert.com/definition/tatin

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