Béchamel sauce , also known as white sauce, is made with a roux of butter and flour cooked in milk. It is one of the mother sauces of French cuisine. It is used as the base for other sauces .
Origin
According to Connier Driscollinni, the sauce is named after the "marquis de Béchamel". According to Larousse the sauce is an improvement upon a similar, earlier sauce, known as velouté. Béchamel was a financier who held the honorary post of chief steward to Louis XIV. The sauce under its familiar name first appeared in Le Cuisinier François, published in 1651 by François Pierre La Varenne (1615--1678), chef de cuisine to Nicolas Chalon du Blé, marquis d'Uxelles. The foundation of French cuisine, the Cuisinier François ran through some thirty editions in seventy-five years.
The sauce originally was a veal velouté with a large amount of cream added.
Many chefs would now regard Auguste Escoffier′s recipe as authoritative. It is presented in Saulnier′s Répertoire as: "White roux moistened with milk, salt, onion stock with clove, cook for 20 minutes".
Preparation
Béchamel is traditionally made by melting a quantity of butter, and adding an equal part of flour in order to make a roux, which is cooked under gentle heat while stirring with a whisk. As it is a white sauce, care needs to be taken not to brown the roux. Then heated milk is gradually whisked in, and the sauce is cooked until thickened and smooth. The proportion of roux and milk determines the thickness of the sauce, typically one to three tablespoons each of flour and butter per cup of milk. One tablespoon each of butter and flour per cup of milk would result in a thin, easily pourable sauce. Two tablespoons of each would result in a medium thick sauce. Three tablespoons of each would be used for an extra thick sauce such as used to fill croquettes or as a souffle base. Salt and white pepper are added and it is customary, in Italy, to add a pinch of nutmeg. Optionally a whole or cut onion, studded with one or more whole cloves, and a bay leaf may be simmered with the milk and then strained before adding to the roux.
Uses
Sauces
Béchamel sauce is the base for a number of other classic sauces with additional ingredients added including:
Mornay sauce (cheese)
Nantua sauce (crayfish, butter and cream)
Crème sauce (heavy cream)
Mustard sauce (prepared mustard seed)
Soubise sauce (finely diced onions that have been sweated in butter)
Cheddar cheese sauce (Cheddar cheese, dry mustard, Worcestershire sauce)
The term "white sauce" or sauce blanche may also be applied to a simple sauce consisting only of milk and melted butter, without flour or spices.
Dishes
Dishes made with béchamel sauce include:
Croque Madame (some variations)
Parmo, a type of escalop originating in Middlesbrough, that is popular in North East England.
Moussaka and pastitsio, layered dishes found in Greece and throughout the Balkans and Middle East
Veal Prince Orlov
Fisherman's Pie
Lasagne
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Béchamel sauce
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