Béchamel
[beh·shuh·mel] • French(n.) a rich white sauce made with milk infused with herbs and other flavourings.
Béchamel is one of the five French mother sauces, so it’s both a standalone sauce as well as a base for other more complex sauces.
Otherwise known as white sauce, it’s made by mixing equal amounts of butter and flour to make a roux, and then slowly adding milk to create a sauce.
If you’ve never made it before, don’t be alarmed when you add the first drizzle of milk… to get a perfectly creamy béchamel the roux must first seize and contract before loosening into a yummy, smooth sauce.
Béchamel is used in dishes such as lasagne, gratins and bakes and toasties, just to name a few.
Origins
There are a few conflicting origin stories to béchamel’s rise to fame. One credits the introduction of the sauce to France via Catherine de Medici’s Florentine cooks.
Two other theories claim that the sauce was created by either Duke Philippe de Morna, governor of Saumur and lord of Plessis, or by Louis Marquis de Béchamel.
However, it’s agreed that the most likely of theories is that the sauce was created by cook François Pierre La Varenne. After all, he was the author of Le Cuisinier François, a cookbook featuring a béchamel recipe, apparently so named as a compliment after Louis Marquis de Béchamel.
Béchamel Recipes
Wherever its true origins lie, we can all agree that béchamel sauce has made our lives significantly better. Try any of these béchamel-based recipes and tell me I’m wrong.
What’s your favourite way to use a creamy, rich and comforting béchamel sauce?
