[mofsb]The reason that the terms roux and béchamel can be confusing is that a bechamel is made from a roux. Still confused? A roux is the technique of cooking flour in fat or oil. Most often, butter is used, but other fats or oils can also be used. The reason the flour is “cooked” in the fat is to prevent the flour from tasting starchy and raw. As the butter begins to cook, it also develops nutty and sweet flavors, together with increasing bitterness. A béchamel sauce is a white sauce made by milk to a lightly cooked or “white” roux. Once of the French mother sauces, the béchamel serves as a base to create many other sauces. For example, when you add cheese to a bechamel to make a stovetop macaroni and cheese, in French terms, you are making a Mornay sauce. Adding sautéed (and sometimes pureed) onions into a béchamel creates a soubise sauce. But a béchamel is only one purpose for a roux!
A roux is a mixture of flour and fat cooked together, usually in equal parts. In a typical roux, flour is cooked in butter for a few minutes or more, depending on the type of roux desired. Cooking the flour in fat gets rid of the raw starchy taste of the flour and brings out a desirable nutty flavor in the flour.
While a roux can be light or very dark, a light or “white roux” is used to make a béchamel sauce. After the flour is cooked in fat for the desired length of time, milk is added and whisked together with the roux thoroughly. As the milk reaches the boiling point, the sauce will thicken. The resulting creamy sauce is a great base for adding all sorts of flavor, including, of course, cheese for macaroni and cheese. Below are some sauces that can be built with a basic béchamel.
Sauces Made From a Béchamel
Mornay sauce or cheese sauce: adding gruyere and parmesan to a béchamel creates a classic mornay sauce but all sorts of other cheeses can be added to create other cheese sauces. The American version of macaroni and cheese usually uses cheddar cheese, but other cheeses are often added.
Soubise Sauce or onion sauce: adding sautéed and pureed onions to a béchamel creates a soubise sauce. This sauce can be used for many purposes, including meat, game, poultry, vegetables, and more.
Nantua Sauce or seafood sauce: the classical French sauce “Nantua” is made by adding crayfish butter (Beurre d’Ecrevisse) and cream to béchamel. Modern versions often use shrimp butter in place of crayfish.
Mustard sauce or mustard béchamel: not to be confused with a Mustard Velouté, which starts with a roux but uses stock as the liquid, a mustard béchamel uses Dijon mustard or any mustard(s) of choice and a touch of nutmeg. Other ingredients can be added for a more complex sauce as the basic combo can be a bit bland. A mustard béchamel is great with a ham and cheese sandwich and can also be used as a simple replacement for a mustard Hollandaise.
See Eleven Béchamel-Based Sauces from TastingTable
