White Sauce and Brown Sauce Recipe ingredients

To prepare this White Sauce and Brown Sauce Recipe, first equal parts of fat and flour make the best roux for thickening sauces. Sif much more fat than flour is used, the fat rises to the top of the mixture; if less flour than fat is used, the paste may burn. Therefor, if less fat than flour is required, it is better not to make it into a roux but to use another method of thickening the sauce. If mor fat than flour is required in the sauce, it should be beaten in in small pieces after the liquid is added and just before the sauce is served.

The American method of making roux is to melt the butter, add the flour and cook only until the mixture bubbles before adding the liquid. This saves time, but at the expense of the flavor of the sauce. The French method is to melt the fat, add the flour and cook with constant stirring for five minutes, to remove the raw taste of the flour.

For a brown roux, the basis of brown sauces, the butter is melted and allowed to brown before the flour is added. After the addition of the flour, it is allowed to cook until the flour, too, is brown. This long cooking is the secret of the successful brown sauce.

All sauces thickened with flour or cornstarch should be cooked for at least fifteen minutes; an hour or longer improve the flavor. The seasonings should be added just before the sauce is served.