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Béchamel sauce, also known as white sauce, is one of the mother sauces of French cuisine. I learned that after I made it, and ate it, a couple of weeks ago. It was one of those days that my fridge reminds me I need to go to the grocery store every time I open it. I was hungry and in no mood to go shopping right at that moment so I made a mental inventory of what I had and went online searching for a miracle on Google.

Somehow I came across a Spanish recipe site, I don’t remember which one, that featured a recipe for white sauce (Béchamel) I wrote down the ingredients, went back to the kitchen and started working on the sauce. Once it was done I had to come up with a meal to put it on, and since I was feeling lazy I just stuffed some flour tortillas with scrambled eggs and turkey breast and top it off with the sauce and fresh parsley. Did I mention my fridge was almost empty?

Now I know that Bechamel sauce can be a base sauce for other sauces, lasagnas, stuffed peppers and many other foods, the site where I got the recipe from didn’t mention that and I didn’t make my research at the moment. However, the egg taco/burrito with the white sauce wasn’t bad at all. Next time I make this recipe I will use it with spinach or lasagna. But for now I know how to make this fine French sauce.

For this recipe you will need:

• 2 oz lard or butter
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 cups milk
• pinch of nutmeg (I used chopped walnut since I was out of nutmeg too)
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Heat milk until it is about to boil. Remember that milk likes to boil over the moment you turn your attention somewhere else so be careful.
2. Melt lard on another saucepan.
3. Remove saucepan from the stove and stiff flour into the lard little by little.
4. Stir constantly until completely mixed.
5. Add the milk a little at a time and continue stirring until it is mixed with the lard and flour.
6. Put back on the stove and stir with wooden spoon until the sauce thickens and starts boiling.
7. At this point add salt, pepper and nutmeg.

This sauce is the base for other sauces like Morney, Aurore and cream sauce. I will definitely be making Aurore in the near future. I will share my experiences on this blog when that happens.

Buen provecho!