A Basic White Sauce
July 19, 2006 – 9:23 pm
A White Sauce is something that every aspiring cook should know how to make, because it is the starting point of so many good things: a good cheese sauce; cream soups; white gravy; bechamel sauce — the list goes on. After I explain how to make the basic white sauce, I will go on to explain how to make a couple of finshed dishes using this versatile item.
But first, let me explain why this sauce is so important. The main ingredients are flour, butter and milk — in fact, for the very basic sauce these are all the ingredients. None of these by themselves are overly tasty, and you would never make an entire meal of one any of them. The very fact that the flavors are so neutral allows you to add your own flavors to create something distinctly your own. But what is truly important is the texture of the sauce. By making a nice, consistent creamy sauce, you are creating something that will coat the tongue, making sure that the flavors in the sauce make full contact, intensifying the taste experience. In addition, the butter in the sauce is a terrific flavor carrier because of its fat content, fat being a good dissolver of organic compounds (and almost all flavors come from organic compounds). A nicely flavored white sauce never fails to satisfy!
In my very first post I promised that I would let you know when I was about to tell you something that required exact measurements. Well, this is one of those times — almost. In this case, we will need nearly identical amounts of butter and flour. You can use as much milk as you like, depending on how thick you like your sauce. My starting amounts are usually 3 heaping tablespoons each of butter and flour, and 2 to 3 cups of milk.
I should take a moment here to let you know what ingredients can be substituted. I have never found a good substitute for flour; if anyone knows of one, let me in on the secret! Corn starch does not seem to work as it reacts at too low a temperature. The butter can be replaced with margarine, but I have never liked the taste as much. Lastly, you can use light cream in place of the milk, and finish it up with a heavy cream to thicken it even more (a great way to make a creamy soup!) Broth can also be used to make a lighter sauce, but this will change the things you can do with it; for instance, I could never imagine a cheese sauce being made with it, but then I may be putting false limits on myself!
On with the preparation! In a sauce pan, melt the butter at a medium low temperature. We do not need or want it to bubble or turn brown. We will also be moving slowly, so high heat is not our friend here, as the butter would burn before we are done. Once the butter is melted, begin to slowly add in the flour. Add about a quarter teaspoon at a time, mixing with a wooden spoon or spatula, allowing this amount to dissolve in the butter before adding the next amount. By the time you have added about half the flour you should notice the mixture becoming thicker. Continue going slowly, even at this point, as the heat is causing the flour’s gluten to develop. This is what causes the sauce to get thick: the gluten in the flour is forming long, microscopic strands that attach to each other. Meanwhile, the butter is coating the particles of flour, preventing them from forming a completely doughy mass as it does when added to water.
Eventually, once the rest of the flour is added, you should have something with the consistency of toothpaste. It will not look appetizing at this point, but don’t worry, as the milk is coming to the rescue! There are two important points here. First, take the butter-flour mixture off the heat. Second, make sure the milk is about room temperature. We do not want a major temperature difference between the butter-flour and the milk while we mix the two. Begin slowly adding the milk in, a splash at a time, and thoroughly mixing it in with your wooden spoon or spatula. The flour will absorb the milk, increasing the size of the butter-flour mixture, but not changing the consistency by much. Contiune adding milk a little at a time, allowing the flour to absorb it. Once the flour becomes saturated, the entire mass will begin to loosen up, and become more liquid in texture. Once it becomes truly liquid again, you can add your milk in larger amounts, or all at once.
The reason we go slowly is to prevent clumping of the flour. If you added all of the milk at once in the beginning you would get clumps of flour that would not only be difficult to smooth out in the larger volume of sauce, but they would also fail to absorb any more liquid. Then all you would have is milk with clumps of flour, and that does not make a tasty sauce!
After the last of the milk is added, return the sauce to the heat, and raise the temperature without bringing it to a boil. And from here, you can do with it as you please, because you have just created a basic White Sauce! Not hard at all, was it?
As mentioned earlier, there are so many things that can be done with a white sauce, and I want to show you two things that are absolutely fail-safe. The first is a cheese sauce that can be poured over steamed vegetables. All you have to do is add grated cheese a bit at a time as you heat your basic sauce. As the cheese melts you will begin to smell the cheesy goodness and see the rich thickness as you stir it! Add a bit of white wine — just a splash! — and you are done! Broccolli never tasted so good! Or if you are feeling even more adventurous, pour your cheese sauce over cooked macaroni noodles, top with grated cheese and bread crumbs, and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, and you have home-made macaroni and cheese! Try this, and you will never buy the boxed stuff again!
The second item I like to make is Chicken or Turkey a la King. In a separate pot sautee your chicken or turkey along with some chopped celery and onion. You can add whatever other spices you like; I find sage works well, as does thyme. To your white sauce add salt, pepper and nutmeg. Nutmeg makes your white sauce a bechamel sauce (some folks say that any white sauce is a bechamel, while others, such as myself, make the distinction between the two. To my way of thinking there has to be a different name for the two of them, because not ALL white sauces contain nutmeg.) Nutmeg seems like an odd thing to put into a savory dish (meaning “not sweet”). After all, nutmeg is used in a lot of desserts! But in many cases this creates a contrast which actually intensifies the savory taste.
Once your sauce is done, and your meat and veggies cooked, just pour one into the other, and spoon over cooked rice or pasta. You can also used canned tuna in place of the poultry; just don’t cook it. I like to add tuna and peas directly to the sauce and heat it through — very tasty!!
I hope you enjoyed this, and I hope you try it soon if you have never made it before. It is a good basic skill that you can use to create so many good things. Lots of times I have started a white sauce before I even decided what I was using it for, it is that versatile!
Now I look forward to hearing about your creations!
Yours in Good Taste,
Erik Christensen
