Béchamel
Béchamel is a traditional Elizabethan recipe for the classic white milk-sauce. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Elizabethan version of Sauce for Béchamel Sauce.
prep time
20 minutes
cook time
15 minutes
Total Time:
35 minutes
Serves:
6
Rating: 
Tags : Sauce RecipesBritish Recipes
Original Recipe
This is one of the truly classic white sauce recipes and though tales of its origins differ, ranging from its creation during the 14th Century by the chefs of Catherine de Medici to its invention in the sixteenth century by the gastronome, Duke Philippe De Mornay of Samur. However, the most likely origin is in the kitchens of Louis XIV of France by his chef, Francois Pierre de la Varenne author of
Le Quisinier Françoise (The French Chef).
Though based on de la Varenne's original the sauce given below is a modern versions. Indeed, the Elizabethans were generally fearful of milk-based sauces as there was no refrigeration and many milk-sellers adulterated their product or sold old, rancid, milk.
Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp plain flour
50ml cold milk
150ml warmed milk
salt
white pepper
freshly-grated
nutmeg
Method:
Melt the butter in the bottom of a saucepan on medium heat, add the flour and stir until the resulting roux is well blended. Stir this with a whisk and add the cold milk (starting with cold liquid gives a creamier more even sauce). Once this has warmed slowly pour in the warm milk, stirring all the time. Keep stirring continuously until the sauce just begins to boil then add the seasonings and turn the heat down to a simmer. Keep simmering for about five minutes to make sure that the flour has cooked.
This sauce is converted into Mornay sauce by the simple addition of about 100g of grated cheese and ¼ tsp mustard powder. For a spiced version of the Béchamel sauce add a small onion studded with cloves into the milk you're warming in a saucepan.
A further variant of Béchamel is VeloutBé sauce which substitutes stock (beef, chicken, vegetable) for the milk.