How to Make White Sauce

From The Independent comes an article about the six skills every cook really needs. Among the six this is the only one I want to get right. I already know how to cook rice without a rice cooker and have no interest in making a soufflé, meringue, pastry or gravy.

White sauce

A white sauce, or béchamel to give it its more intimidating name, is the classic base for many a sauce. Top chef Paul Gayler, whose book Sauce is dedicated to the art of making a great sauce, tells us how to get it lump-free.

Start by halving a small onion and stud each half with two cloves. Place in a pan with 600ml of full-fat milk and a small bay leaf. “The onion, cloves and bay leaf infuse the milk, making it aromatic,” says Paul. Bring the milk to the boil and simmer gently for four to five minutes.

In another pan, make a roux. Begin by melting 45g of butter and add 45g of plain flour. Cook for 30 to 40 seconds, stirring frequently, until the roux is pale yellow. “Make sure you have equal amounts of butter and flour so you get a nice smoothness. If you have too much flour, it’ll be sandy and never cook out.”

Put the milk through a fine strainer, then beat it vigorously into the roux, and stir until the sauce is smooth. “Using a wooden spoon to stir it gives it a lovely silky appearance – and you can slap the sauce up against the sides!” says Paul.

Slowly bring the béchamel to the boil, reduce the heat, and then simmer it for 20 minutes, beating occasionally, until the sauce is smooth and glossy. “Cook it nice and slowly. You need to simmer it, to allow the flour to cook out. Stick it in the blender if it goes wrong, if it’s too lumpy, a blender will bring it back,” he says.