Roux

Roux is a cooked mixture of flour and fat used to thicken sauces, soups, and stews. Its cooking time determines its color, flavor, and thickening power.

Starch gelatinization: The swelling and thickening of starch granules as they absorb liquid and heat. Flour starch thickens a sauce when liquid is added to heated roux.
Béchamel sauce: A French white sauce made by thickening milk with a pale roux. Béchamel is a direct use of pale roux as its thickener.
Cornstarch slurry: A mixture of cornstarch and cold liquid used to thicken hot foods. Unlike roux, it adds no fat and is usually stirred in near the end of cooking.
French cuisine: The culinary traditions and practices associated with France. Roux became a foundation of French sauce-making.
Wheat flour: A powder made by milling wheat kernels, used widely in baking and cooking. Wheat flour supplies the starch that thickens liquid in a roux.
Maillard reaction: A set of reactions between amino acids and reducing sugars that produces browned foods’ flavors and colors. This reaction contributes roasted flavors as roux browns.
Velouté sauce: A French sauce made by thickening light stock with a pale roux. Velouté uses roux to thicken stock rather than milk.
Beurre manié: A kneaded mixture of equal parts soft butter and flour, added to hot liquid to thicken it. It thickens without first cooking the flour and fat together.
Auguste Escoffier: A French chef and author whose codification of classical cuisine shaped professional cooking. His system of French sauces helped establish roux’s place in classical cooking.
Cooking oil: A liquid fat used to prepare food, typically extracted from plants or seeds. Oil is a common alternative to butter as the fat in roux.

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