BÉCHAMEL & VELOUTÉ

BÉCHAMEL AND VELOUTÉ ARE BOTH WHITE sauces made by cooking butter and flour together to create a light roux. The roux is then thinned out with a liquid—milk to make Béchamel and stock to make Velouté.

These traditional white sauces are not as popular as they once were. Modern white sauces—as made in most American and French restaurant kitchens—rely on reduced cream. Traditional roux-thickened white sauces are not as refined as reduced cream sauces, but they are less rich. We find that these old-fashioned sauces are superior to reduced cream sauces for most home cooking. Béchamel and Velouté are essential components in baked dishes, such as lasagne, pot pies, casseroles, and gratins. Cream-based sauces are too oily and heavy in these dishes.

White sauces are bland (they are meant to coat and moisten foods, not add flavor), so texture-not taste-is the real challenge for the home cook. Roux-based sauces are often lumpy. To be successful, white sauces must be silky smooth.

Our first tests concerned the roux. We found that a ratio of 4 tablespoons butter to 3¹/₂ tablespoons flour yielded an especially thick sauce—it dropped in blobs from a spoon and was thick enough to spread. Our first thought was to reduce the amounts of butter and flour so the sauce would be thinner. However, we found that in some instances (especially lasagne), you want a very thick Béchamel. (The liquid from the tomato sauce will thin out the Béchamel, so it must start out very thick.)

More often, though, a thinner sauce is wanted, one that will heavily coat a spoon but still fall in a thick ribbon. Rather than fiddling with the roux, we found it easiest to adjust the consistency of the finished sauce, whisking in a bit more milk or stock once the sauce was done.

In our tests, we found that the flour needs to be cooked in the butter for two minutes to get rid of any floury flavor, but it should never be allowed to color or brown. Cooking the sauce a full 10 minutes once the liquid has been added also ensures that the bitter, raw flour taste has been erased. We also found that using medium heat was key. At higher temperatures, the roux can burn or darken and the starch granules harden and lose their ability to absorb liquid.

Some sources suggest adding cold liquid to prevent lumps from forming in the sauce. The problem with using cold liquid is that it takes a long time for the sauce to thicken. Our tests revealed that boiling liquid will cause the starch to gelatinize and form lumps. However, we found that you could add hot liquid (and thus prepare the sauce more quickly) as long as you add the liquid gradually. As a further precaution, we take the saucepan with the roux off the heat when adding the first batches of liquid.

Whisking the liquid in gradually (rather than stirring it in with a wooden spoon, as many sources suggest) prevents the formation of lumps. Unfortunately, a wire whisk can't reach bits of roux stuck around the edges of the pan. For this reason, you must scrape the edges of pan with a wooden spoon several times as you add the liquid.

Once all the liquid has been incorporated, constant stirring is necessary. Without it, the fully swelled starch can settle on the bottom of the pot and burn. For this reason, it's also necessary to use a heavy-bottomed saucepan. White sauces prepared in thin pans burned in our tests. If you must use a thin pan, reduce the heat a bit.

Béchamel can be used in baked pasta dishes (everything from lasagne to macaroni and cheese), soufflés, and vegetable gratins. We tested various seasonings and preferred salt and white pepper (flecks of black pepper are too noticeable in a white sauce). Nutmeg makes a nice addition for a sauce that will used over vegetables, but it is not appropriate in a tomato-based lasagne. Add this ingredient as desired.

Velouté is a standard ingredient in chicken or turkey pot pies, chicken or turkey à la king, tuna noodle casserole, and turkey Tetrazzini. In general, we felt the flavor of the Velouté was improved by the addition of ¹/₄ cup sherry or Marsala. Although we prefer Velouté made with fortified wine in most uses, tasters felt the flavor of sherry or Marsala was odd in a few instances (such as tuna noodle casserole), so we decided to make this ingredient optional.