Béchamel, the Gateway Sauce

Béchamel, the classic white sauce used to make all manner of wonderful things--Macaroni and Cheese, the Croques (Monsieur and Madame) and Savory Soufflés to name a few--should unquestionably be part of your cooking repertoire. It’s not at all difficult and yet, it’s the culinary obstacle you never knew was there. Learn how to make it and doors will open for you.

Béchamel sauce (or more snooty-like: Sauce Béchamel) is a sauce that comes from the French culinary tradition and thus any discussion that ignores Mrs. Julia Child would be both callous and unwise, especially because ever since that Julie and Julia movie came out, everyone and their mothers (including both my mother and stepmother) went out and bought a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

If you have your copy in front of you, you’ll see that on page 57 Julia leads off the sauce chapter with this all-important sauce. Along with many many Americans, I learned how to make béchamel from this very recipe, these very instructions. The proportions are perfect, the method is foolproof, but over time I’ve noticed that my professional cooking friends do things a little differently.

The issue at hand is that of whether or not to heat one’s milk.

Béchamel consists of butter and flour, first cooked together to make a roux, then thinned with milk and finally seasoned with salt, pepper, and occasionally a dash of nutmeg and cayenne. In making béchamel, the enemy is lumpiness. There are two ways to avoid it.

The first, Julia’s method, is to heat the milk so that when introduced to the roux, it does not cause the mixture to seize or thicken, and voilà, no lumps. The second, the method I have now adopted, does not require you to heat the milk. Instead, cold milk is whisked little by little into the thick roux until it slowly thins out enough to be free of lump-danger. The second method is faster, but both are perfectly good ways of making béchamel. If you’re having trouble deciding which to use, you can think of Julia’s method as the pill: always effective, but requiring some advance planning; and mine as condoms: fast and 99% effective, provided you don’t foul up. In the recipe below, I’ve listed both methods.

Over the the next few weeks, I’ll be writing more about some of the aforementioned béchamel dishes and providing recipes. Master your sauce now and prepare for culinary delights. (And see that movie,  the parts about Julia Child are pretty great.)

Classic Béchamel

Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck Also of note: Julia believes that the only way to season a béchamel is with white pepper. I do not use white pepper, a spice I believe to smell strongly of foot and instead use regular old fresh ground black pepper. True, black pepper will slightly discolor your sauce, but that should only be a problem if you’re completely insane or if you happen to like the smell of foot.

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons flour

2 cups whole milk (or at least 2%; use nonfat and you will regret it)

salt and pepper

(nutmeg and a pinch of cayenne)

Julia: In a small saucepan, gently heat your milk; once hot, let sit on low. Make your roux: in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Stir in the flour and continue to cook on low, stirring constantly until the roux is nice and frothy but hasn’t darkened in color. Add the hot milk all at once, whisking well to incorporate. Let the sauce come to a boil, reduce the heat and let cook on medium low for about 10 minutes, until the flour is fully cooked and the sauce no longer tastes starchy. Béchamel is ready to be used or can be stored in the refrigerator (press plastic wrap directly to the surface to prevent a skin from forming) for several days.

Rachael: Measure milk, set aside, twiddle your thumbs. Make your roux: in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Stir in the flour and continue to cook on low, stirring constantly until the roux is nice and frothy but hasn’t darkened in color. Here’s where things get interesting. Turn the heat up to high. You’re roux is going to get very thick when you add the first addition of milk, so add milk little by little, a few tablespoons at a time and be ready to whisk vigorously with each addition of milk. Go! After a few additions of milk, you’ll notice that the roux is (hopefully) still lump-free and starting to noticeably thin out. At this point, you can add the remaining milk in larger additions, continuing to whisk well. After all the milk is added, let the sauce come to a boil, reduce the heat and let cook on medium low for about 10 minutes, until the flour is fully cooked and the sauce no longer tastes starchy. Béchamel is ready to be used or can be stored in the refrigerator (press plastic wrap directly to the surface to prevent a skin from forming) for several days.