Béchamel Sauce

Method

1. 01

   Step 1: Infuse the milk

   Warm the milk with the bay leaf until it just begins to steam — do not boil it — then take it off the heat. Warm milk blends into a roux far more readily than cold.

2. 02

   Step 2: Make a white roux

   Melt the butter over medium heat, add all the flour at once and stir for 2 minutes. It should foam and smell of biscuits while staying pale: that is a white roux, the right one for this sauce.

3. 03

   Step 3: Add the first 200 ml

   Off the heat, pour in a third of the milk and work it with a whisk until perfectly smooth. The mixture will be very stiff at this point, which is exactly right.

4. 04

   Step 4: Add the rest in stages

   Back on the heat, add the remaining milk in two more additions, whisking smooth each time. It is the pause between additions, not whisking harder, that keeps it lump-free.

5. 05

   Step 5: Bring it to thickening point

   Keep stirring until the sauce barely bubbles. Wheat starch swells at around 85–90 °C, so béchamel stays thin right up to that line and then thickens in half a minute.

6. 06

   Step 6: Simmer for 10 minutes

   Hold it over the lowest heat for 8–10 minutes, stirring. This is not a formality — the starch granules need to open fully or the sauce keeps a raw, floury taste.

7. 07

   Step 7: Season

   Fish out the bay leaf, add salt, nutmeg and white pepper. Black pepper would leave visible specks in a white sauce.

8. 08

   Step 8: Choose your thickness

   50 g of roux to 600 ml gives a sauce that coats a spoon. For lasagne use 70 g of butter and flour for the same volume; for soups and croquettes drop to 35 g.