Béchamel sauce

Béchamel sauce (French: Béchamel, /bɛʃəˈmɛl/ or /beɪʃəˈmɛl/;French: [beʃaˈmɛl]), also known as white sauce, is made from a white roux (butter and flour) and milk. It is one of the mother sauces of French cuisine. It is used as the base for other sauces (such as Mornay sauce, which is Béchamel with cheese).

Origin

Béchamel was a financier who held the honorary post of chief steward to King Louis XIV. The sauce first appeared in some Italian cooking books of the Rennaissance, but was introduced under its familiar name 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.

Saulnier's Répertoire presents one recipe as: "White roux moistened with milk, salt, onion stuck with clove, cook for 20 minutes."

Preparation