Sauce "Bechamel" - one of 5 great sauces

This sauce is a universal - it can be served with meat, vegetables, fish dishes. He always emphasizes harmony and complements the taste of the main course, gives a gentle tone. Talk about bechamel sauce - one of the most famous sauces worldwide.

There are two versions of the origin of this sauce. According to one of them, he created one of the French aristocrats Louis de Bchamel, who was chamberlain at the court of Louis XIV, and in the second version of its founder invented haute cuisine in Versailles - royal chef Francois de la Varenne. Whatever it was, one thing is clear - the birthplace of this wonderful sauce is France, the recognized capital of culinary art and high gourmet cuisine.

Gone century, and began to prepare the bechamel sauce, not only in the homes of wealthy aristocrats. Bechamel today is among the five major French sauces called great - based on them prepare more than three thousand different sauces! It is cooked all who love a tasty meal and serve it as usual, and to children and dietary meals. This sauce is not only delicious, but even the most harmless - it is possible to eat even in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, may be why it has become one of the most popular around the world. Or maybe because this sauce - the most versatile: it can be submitted to various dishes, both meat and fish to vegetables, or, it is also a part of some dishes, such as Italian lasagna, and it is possible to extinguish and bake a variety of products, such as mussels, chicken gizzards, cauliflower and much more.

For all its merits, this sauce has one indisputable advantage - does not require rare and expensive ingredients, preparing simple and fast enough. The components of this sauce in the kitchen there any hostess - it's only flour, butter and milk! Yes - just like that! This sauce - really amazing and we can say the magic - of these simple ingredients is born is a miracle!

Cooking bechamel

Learn to cook the sauce bechamel can very quickly any cook, including novice and inexperienced. Preparation does not take much time, does not require special knowledge or skills - as if by magic, this sauce is cooked very quickly.

Recipe for preparing the classic bchamel sauce

Need: 400 ml of milk, 40 g of butter, 40 g flour, salt.

How to cook the sauce bechamel. Melt the butter over low heat, add flour gradually, stirring and bringing the mixture until smooth. Pour the mixture into a small quantity of milk (not more than 100ml), stirring vigorously sauce, so that no lumps, bring the mixture to a homogeneous state and gradually pour the remaining milk, sauce mixing thoroughly. When added all the milk, sauce must be brought to a boil with occasional stirring, then simmer on low heat for 5 minutes. Next, add some salt to taste the sauce, stir and covered with a lid or immediately served hot meals.

The above recipe - a basic sauce recipe. As condiments you can also use ground pepper and nutmeg, bay leaf and other spices and condiments. Impart different flavors the sauce can also be experimenting with time frying flour: you can fry it in oil without changing color to golden or brownish hue to. The longer the fried flour, the more "nutty" flavor of the sauce gets. By the way, this cooking oil-flour based on the name the word "ru", and bchamel sauce has a definition - a milk-based sauce and py.

It is important that, along with milk to prepare the bchamel and cream can be used, it is believed that the first time this sauce was cooked exactly to them, not with milk, which has become more easy and cheap to replace cream.

Often, this sauce becomes a base for other sauces - Aurora (mix the sauce in the ratio of 1 to 1 with tomato sauce), Morneyskogo (added grated cheese), Nantua (add the cream and shrimp or crabs), etc. Learn to cook roux can learn to cook and other sauces on the basis of his own "works."

Subtleties cooking sauce bechamel

• Ideal option for milk fat sauce is considered 2.5%;
• By varying the amount of milk you can make thin, medium thickness or thick bechamel;
• If you are using the cream, they should not be overheating because they may lose their uniform structure, so often together with cream sauce cooks added to soups - fish, meat or vegetable;
• Milk before adding to the sauce can be added to flavor: in cold milk, you can add the root (dill, parsley, onion), various spices (oregano, rosemary, oregano, thyme, pepper, garlic) and gradually heat it;
• If milk flavored, all seasonings better put in a bag - so they will be easier to remove, or milk will need to drain, put seasonings should be exactly in cold milk and heat it slowly - so the taste is better revealed seasonings;
• Avoid the formation of lumps when adding milk to the sauce is a two-stage allows adding it - at first a small amount, and then everything else, if you follow the recipe exactly, lumps are formed;
• If lumps still appeared before serving the sauce will need to drain;
• It is best to cook the sauce with a wooden spoon;
• If the sauce is placed vegetables and onions, a little better than their first fry in a dry frying pan - they will taste richer;
• Do not add to the bechamel lemon juice - milk or cream can curl due to the acidic environment;
• If the sauce will stew other products, it is better to make more fluid;
• Bechamel is added to raw meat and fish - only adjusted to half;
• Cook the sauce only needs to simmer;
• Bechamel perfect - light cream color, with a homogeneous structure and medium-thick consistency, serve this sauce should only be hot.

All meals, which can be served this sauce, and you name it. Equally many dishes in which the sauce is not just a supplement, and an important part. It goes well with bechamel beef, pork, poultry, white fish, potatoes, cauliflower, celery and many other products, try and find your favorite combination!