It’s a Roux!
What is a perfect pairing for almost any dish, whether it be mac and cheese with a homemade cheese sauce, or a gravy for your thanksgiving turkey? If you said a sauce, you would be 100% correct. Sauces don’t need to be difficult, and with some practice and experimentation, you could be on your way to an immaculate meal. According to the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, “A sauce is a liquid with the addition of a thickening agent, such as herbs and spices.” By this definition, a dressing, or vinaigrette is not considered a sauce, but a gravy is.
Where do we start? The starting point for most sauces is a roux, a sauce thickener made with equal parts, by weight, of flour and butter. The different types of roux that you will encounter in your culinary journey are a white/light roux, blond roux, a brown roux, and a brick roux, and the difference between the three are how long you have them on the heat. The darker the roux, the less thickening potential it will provide, which can come in extremely handy when you need to thicken a sauce by a little or a lot.
Making a roux is fairly straight forward, and this recipe will thicken about 2 cups of liquid, so let’s start:
-What you’ll need-
1 ounce(23.5g) of unsalted butter
1 ounce(23.5g) of all purpose flour
1) Place your butter in a sauce pan over medium to medium low heat. Allow the butter to fully melt, and start to lightly foam. Make sure you don’t have the heat too high or you’ll burn your butter and you’ll need to start over.
2) While constantly whisking to avoid clumping, slowly incorporate the flour, constantly moving your mixture until all the flour is incorporated.
3) Keep moving the roux around in the pan making sure to avoid burning the roux until you have a slightly nutty aroma from the butter and flour, and the desired color is achieved. the final product shouldn’t have any lumps of flour in it, and should resemble a smooth paste.
*You can adjust the weight of the roux to accommodate the amount of sauce you are making. Make sure you use the roux as soon as possible after making it. It is also a good note to add that a roux can be burnt, so don’t leave your roux on the stovetop unattended, because that brick roux could turn into a literal brick in the pan.
Thank you for learning how to make your first roux. Whether you are preparing a béchamel with a blond roux, an espagnole with a brown roux, or a gumbo with a brick roux, you are on your way to a delicious sauce prepared with traditional French techniques.