Session 17 — Béchamel: The White Sauce
← Block 5–6: The 5 Mother Sauces Overview
Skill: A béchamel is a white roux (equal parts butter and flour, cooked briefly until it smells nutty but hasn't browned) whisked with warm milk. The key is adding the milk gradually while whisking constantly, and cooking it long enough to lose the raw flour taste. Season with salt, white pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg.
Full Meal: Baked Mac and Cheese (Béchamel-Based) + Bitter Greens Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette
You'll make the béchamel from scratch and transform it into a Mornay sauce (béchamel + cheese). Then it becomes mac and cheese. This is the mother sauce → daughter sauce chain in action.
🎥 Compare Notes: Macaroni and Cheese with Breadcrumbs — Jacques Pépin Cooking At Home (KQED) — Watch Pépin build a béchamel into mac and cheese with master hands · Alton Brown Makes Baked Macaroni and Cheese — Good Eats — Alton explains the roux and why you add milk gradually
| Component | Recipe |
|---|---|
| Main | Baked mac and cheese (the whole dish) |
| Starch | Pasta (built-in) |
| Salad | Bitter greens (radicchio, frisée, endive) with mustard vinaigrette — the bitterness cuts through the cheese |