I started my week with snow on the ground, I celebrated by eating cupcakes.  Hope you are enjoying our last week of January.  It’s time for another Nerd Word…

roux |roō|

noun ( pl. same)

a mixture of fat (esp. butter) and starch used in making sauces.

This week’s cooking term is a common sauce-making technique.  The purpose of a roux is to incorporate starch into a sauce.  This particular method preheats the starch separately in fat in order to create a roux.  Any type of starch combined with any form of fat is considered a roux, though in French cooking the standard pair consist of butter and flour.  Traditional French cooking requires that the cook carefully heat equal parts of flour and butter in a pan until the mixture reaches one of three varying final stages.  

a. The mixture has been cooked to a point where all it’s moisture has been cooked out while the flour remains white.  

b. The flour acquires a light yellow color.

c. The flour becomes a distinctive shade of brown.  

After reaching it’s intended stage the roux is added to the sauce as to thicken it and provide a smooth texture.  

Happy Wednesday to you all!

Sincerely, 

Pedantic Foodie