Bechamel sauce composition and recipe

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Bechamel sauce is a key ingredient in hundreds of recipes, from simple dishes (like creamy vegetables) to gourmet cheese soufflés. Once it was considered a food component intended for we althy people. But today it is likely the most common sauce in the Western world. What is the composition of bechamel sauce and when is it used in cooking?

What is bechamel sauce?

Also known as white sauce, bechamel is an "ingredient" - a sauce prepared to be used in another dish or as a base for a more complex gravy. What is in bechamel sauce? It consists of milk (whole, which is important!), heated and condensed with the help of other components. Bechamel is one of the five "mother" sauces of French cuisine. Its composition is similar to veloutê, which is also an ingredient sauce. The only difference is that bechamel is milk-based, while veloutê is liquid.presented in the form of a broth.

Before the process of cooling and pasteurizing milk began to be carried out industrially with ease, this product was available only to we althy people. Butter and cheese could be stored without much spoilage in a cool room or in a summer kitchen, but milk spoiled quickly, and bacterial growth in it could cause illness. Therefore, it was a somewhat extravagant commodity, available to those who could afford to throw away everything that had gone bad. Because of this, bechamel was associated with we alth and abundance, while veloutê was accessible to the common man. When refrigeration and pasteurization made milk affordable, Béchamel took the lead in popularity due to its association with luxury living.

History of bechamel sauce

If you ever need an example of success, don't look for some obscure example. In the first place will still be bechamel sauce. There are at least four theories regarding its origin, which mention several chefs and two countries.

The most famous face in this story is La Varenne, the 17th century chef who actually founded French classic cuisine. Bechamel sauce was first mentioned in his famous work The French Chef, published in 1651. Written for other professional chefs, the book changed the cuisine of France and became a best seller in the 1700s. La Varenne introduced new recipes and reformulated old ones.

Rooks-paste,made by cooking mixed butter and flour, became the standard method for thickening sauces in place of the breadcrumbs or ground almonds common in medieval recipes. Using this technique, French sauces are smooth and silky, without the grainy texture of previous products.

But is there really La Varenne's merit in inventing bechamel? Half a century before him, Marie de' Medici had come to France as the bride of Henry IV. As a girl from a we althy and cultured Medici family in Florence, Maria brought with her a huge dowry, including chefs who made a very similar sauce that had been prepared in Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna for hundreds of years. Antonin Carim, who later named béchamel as one of the cornerstone "mother" sauces, admitted in 1822 that "cooks of the second half of the 1700s became acquainted with the taste of Italian cuisine, which Catherine de' Medici introduced to the French court."

The invention of this product is often credited to the Duc de Mornay, a provincial governor and open gourmet, who is also credited with inventing mornay sauce, based on bechamel but containing Gruyère and Parmesan.

Another contender for the invention of this compound is the Marquise Louis de Bechamel, a we althy financier with no known culinary knowledge at all. However, she was a contemporary of La Varenne, a mistress of Louis XIV and a well-known member of the royal court. It is more likely that the sauce was named after her than that she invented it herself.

All things consideredcircumstances, it can be assumed that the original Béchamel was created by an unnamed chef in northern Italy, modernized by La Varenne, and then made famous by Mornay.

How to make bechamel sauce?

A standard bechamel recipe starts by heating the milk to very warm, but not boiling. If you use cold milk, the sauce will be lumpy instead of perfectly smooth. While the base is heating, the flour is prepared by beating with ghee and boiling until a light-colored paste forms. A classic roux calls for equal amounts of butter and flour, but the ratio in a béchamel recipe can vary greatly depending on how the sauce is used. Warm milk is gradually poured into the roux, heated and whisked continuously until the mixture reaches the desired thickness. Bechamel is traditionally seasoned with white pepper, as black would spoil the product's snowy whiteness.

Clove onions are sometimes added to the sauce as it heats up and then removed after the flavors have been absorbed into the other ingredients. This is an addition introduced to a classic recipe in the 19th century, but is now considered the accepted version by many chefs.

In addition to the mornay sauce mentioned above, béchamel is featured in other well-known gravies, including cream sauce, cheddar cheese, mustard and someus (made by adding pureed onions to béchamel). Sauces based on bechamel are usually mild in taste and are most often served with eggs, vegetables, pasta, fish, chicken andveal.

Modern understanding

A recipe published in popular culinary literature in 1749 gave a modern and traditional version of béchamel sauce. The classic composition, posted in these publications, involved melting butter in a saucepan, frying onion peel and root vegetables, green onions and parsley in it. Then cream, s alt, ground black pepper and nutmeg were added there. The product was prepared by stewing, after which it was strained and served with the addition of additional oil.

The later composition of the bechamel sauce already had differences. His recipe involved sautéing minced shallots, parsley, and green onions in butter with the addition (as before) of cream, s alt, ground black pepper, and nutmeg. After that, parsley was added to the mixture, and then it was served without straining.

A 1750 recipe called for cooking fish in broth, chilling it, and then reheating it in a bechamel just before serving.

Mother Sauce

The first thing you should know about bechamel is that it is known as the "mother" sauce. This means that it is one of the "building blocks" of classic French cuisine. In other words, it is a sauce that is used to make other sauces. There are five such "mother" compositions.

The modern composition of bechamel sauce is a mixture of butter and flour that has been fried (known as a roux) withby adding milk and a small amount of spices. The result is a silky smooth sauce that can be used on its own or as a base for a variety of other products.

As you can see from the photo, the bechamel sauce is very thick. It wraps around other foods and complements them greatly.

How is it prepared now?

The first step in making bechamel is to create a roux, a mixture of flour and butter that acts as a thickener. To prepare this base, you should heat the oil in a frying pan and add the same amount of flour to it. Be sure to mix thoroughly throughout the frying process. This allows the damp smell to be released from the flour. The most important thing is not to overheat the mixture and prevent a significant change in its color.

Once the roux is cooked properly, the next step is to add milk. This is exactly what turns a greasy roux into a sauce. But everything is not so simple. To create a smooth consistency (necessary for bechamel), you need to gradually beat the milk. If you pour it right away, the mixture will become lumpy and unappetizing.

However, knowing what is in bechamel sauce does not mean mastering the technique of its preparation. Different recipes will require different amounts of milk and whipping times. For example, when making a croquette, you want the sauce to be thick and almost not runny, while for lasagna you want it to be thinner. Once you've reached your desired thickness, it's time to season the bechamel with s alt and nutmeg.

Modern classic recipe

How to make bechamel sauce at home? In fact, this is a skill that every home cook should have. It's easy to make and one of the most versatile sauces for cooking a variety of dishes. To make bechamel sauce at home, you will need the following:

• half a cup of butter, cut into cubes;
• half a cup of flour;
• 2-3 cups whole milk;
• a pinch of cayenne pepper;
• half teaspoon mustard powder;
• a pinch of ground/grated nutmeg;
• pepper and s alt to taste.

This is a classic composition for the main sauce. It can be a part of many complex dishes and gravy to them.

How to make bechamel sauce: recipe with photo

Melt the butter in a deep frying pan and add the flour. Stir until smooth, then slowly pour in the milk in small portions. Whisk the mixture constantly with a fork until the mixture thickens. The following step-by-step recipe for bechamel sauce looks simple, but requires care.

Once you reach the stage of thickening the mixture, reduce the heat, put the spices and let them soak into the other ingredients, stirring constantly. The final cooking will take about 7-10 minutes on low heat.

After the sauce is cooked (it should be completely smooth, without flour lumps), season it to taste. As you can see, the recipe for bechamel sauce at homeconditions is not very difficult.

How to use it?

So, you managed to cook this product. Now you are probably wondering: how to use it? In fact, there are many ways. You can just spread it on toasted bread. This sauce is an excellent binder for classic lasagna.

Also, you can take the French application as a reference. In this country, it is used as the base for some fancy sauces such as Mornay, Nantuan or Soubise.

But really, all you need to know is that you can make this modern classic béchamel sauce at home. This is a versatile creamy white sauce that can serve as the base for any dish you want to cook. If desired, you can add aromatic herbs, cheese, lemon zest or chili powder to it. This is the versatility of bechamel.

An example of using this sauce

As noted above, the composition of bechamel sauce is represented by ingredients with a delicate and relatively neutral taste. This means that you can add it to most different dishes. For example, in pasta with minced beef. To prepare this dish you will need the following:

• 1 pack (50 grams) of penne or other medium tubular pasta;
• 500 grams lean ground beef;
• 1/2 large sweet onion, chopped;
• 2medium garlic cloves, minced;
• 240ml tomato sauce;
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil;
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon;
• 2 tsp s alt;
• a glass of bechamel sauce.

How to prepare a dish with this sauce (example)

In this case, ground beef with bechamel sauce and tomato, baked with pasta, is prepared. Place a large frying pan on a small fire, pour a tablespoon of vegetable oil into it. Brown the ground beef, breaking up lumps as it cooks. When the meat changes color, add the chopped onion. Fry the minced meat with onions for a few minutes.

Chop and add two minced garlic cloves to the meat and mix well. When the minced meat is ready, and the onion becomes almost transparent, put the tomato sauce. Add 1/2 tsp. s alt and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon and simmer in tomato sauce over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Then remove the pan from the heat.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a couple of teaspoons of s alt. Add pasta and let cook until al dente. It usually takes about 10-12 minutes. When the pasta is ready, drain it in a colander to dry it. Rinse them with cold water to stop the cooking process.

Place half of the pasta in the bottom of a baking dish. Pour a third of a glass of bechamel on top and mix thoroughly. Add the ground beef mixture in an even layer and brush again with the béchamel. Then cover the meat with the remaining half of the pasta. Pour on topthe rest of the bechamel.

Place the filled baking dish in the oven on the middle rack and bake for 25 minutes. Cool slightly and serve.