Béchamel
[bey-shə-MEL]
Part of speech: noun
Origin: French, late 17th century
1.
A rich white sauce made with milk infused with herbs and other flavorings.
Examples of Béchamel in a sentence
"The secret to homemade mac and cheese is a good béchamel."
"To pass the French sauces class, each student had to make a perfect béchamel."
About Béchamel
Béchamel is a standard white sauce, made with butter, flour, and milk. As basic as the ingredients are, it can add a lot of depth to your cooking. It's usually spelled with an accent mark over the first "e," thanks to its French roots. The inventor of the sauce was the Marquis Louis de Béchamel, the steward to King Louis XIV of France.
Did you Know?
You might be able to whip up a mean pancake breakfast, sear a perfect steak, or have a secret recipe for your chocolate chip cookies, but what about sauces? Professional chefs swear by the five French "mother sauces" — béchamel, velouté, espagnole, hollandaise, and tomato. Master these, and you'll have the basic building blocks for all other sauces.
