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Béchamel sauce ( in English, in French, in Italian), also known as white sauce, is a basic sauce
Sauce

In cooking, a sauce is liquid or sometimes semi-solid food served on or used in preparing other foods. Sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to another dish....
 that is used as the base for other sauces, such as Mornay sauce
Mornay sauce

A Mornay sauce is a B?chamel sauce with shredded or grated cheese added. Usually, it is half Gruy?re cheese and half Parmesan cheese, though some variations use different combinations of Gruy?re, Emmental cheese, or white cheddar cheese....
, which is Béchamel and cheese
Cheese

Cheese is a food consisting of proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cattle, Water Buffalo, goats, or sheep's milk. It is produced by Coagulation of the milk protein casein....
. This basic sauce, one of the mother sauces
Sauce

In cooking, a sauce is liquid or sometimes semi-solid food served on or used in preparing other foods. Sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to another dish....
 of French cuisine
French cuisine

French cuisine is a style of cooking derived from the nation of France. It evolved from centuries of social and political change. The Middle Ages brought lavish banquets to the upper class with ornate, heavily seasoned food prepared by chefs such as Guillaume Tirel....
, is usually made today by whisk
Whisk

A whisk is a cooking utensil used in List of food preparation utensils to blend ingredients smooth, or to incorporate air into a mixture, in a process known as :wikt:whisk or :wikt:whipping....
ing scalded milk
Scalded milk

Scalded milk is milk that has been cooked to 82?C/180?F. At this temperature, bacteria and enzymes in the milk are destroyed. Since most milk sold today is Pasteurization, which accomplishes both of these goals, milk is typically scalded simply to increase its temperature....
 gradually into a white flour
Flour

Flour is a powder made of cereal grains. It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many civilizations, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history....
-butter
Butter

Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermentation cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications such as baking, sauce making, and frying....
 roux
Roux

Roux is a mixture of wheat flour and fat, traditionally clarified butter. It is the thickening agent of three of the Sauce#Sauces in French cuisine of classical French cooking: sauce b?chamel, sauce velout?, and sauce espagnole....
 (equal part clarified butter and flour), a secondary way to produce Bechamel sauce, not necessarily thought of as the traditional way, is done by whisking a kneaded flour-butter beurre manié
Beurre manié

Beurre mani? is a dough, consisting of equal parts of soft butter and flour, used to thickening soups and sauces. By kneading the flour and butter together, the flour particles are coated in butter....
 into scalded milk.






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Béchamel sauce ( in English, in French, in Italian), also known as white sauce, is a basic sauce
Sauce

In cooking, a sauce is liquid or sometimes semi-solid food served on or used in preparing other foods. Sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to another dish....
 that is used as the base for other sauces, such as Mornay sauce
Mornay sauce

A Mornay sauce is a B?chamel sauce with shredded or grated cheese added. Usually, it is half Gruy?re cheese and half Parmesan cheese, though some variations use different combinations of Gruy?re, Emmental cheese, or white cheddar cheese....
, which is Béchamel and cheese
Cheese

Cheese is a food consisting of proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cattle, Water Buffalo, goats, or sheep's milk. It is produced by Coagulation of the milk protein casein....
. This basic sauce, one of the mother sauces
Sauce

In cooking, a sauce is liquid or sometimes semi-solid food served on or used in preparing other foods. Sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to another dish....
 of French cuisine
French cuisine

French cuisine is a style of cooking derived from the nation of France. It evolved from centuries of social and political change. The Middle Ages brought lavish banquets to the upper class with ornate, heavily seasoned food prepared by chefs such as Guillaume Tirel....
, is usually made today by whisk
Whisk

A whisk is a cooking utensil used in List of food preparation utensils to blend ingredients smooth, or to incorporate air into a mixture, in a process known as :wikt:whisk or :wikt:whipping....
ing scalded milk
Scalded milk

Scalded milk is milk that has been cooked to 82?C/180?F. At this temperature, bacteria and enzymes in the milk are destroyed. Since most milk sold today is Pasteurization, which accomplishes both of these goals, milk is typically scalded simply to increase its temperature....
 gradually into a white flour
Flour

Flour is a powder made of cereal grains. It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many civilizations, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history....
-butter
Butter

Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermentation cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications such as baking, sauce making, and frying....
 roux
Roux

Roux is a mixture of wheat flour and fat, traditionally clarified butter. It is the thickening agent of three of the Sauce#Sauces in French cuisine of classical French cooking: sauce b?chamel, sauce velout?, and sauce espagnole....
 (equal part clarified butter and flour), a secondary way to produce Bechamel sauce, not necessarily thought of as the traditional way, is done by whisking a kneaded flour-butter beurre manié
Beurre manié

Beurre mani? is a dough, consisting of equal parts of soft butter and flour, used to thickening soups and sauces. By kneading the flour and butter together, the flour particles are coated in butter....
 into scalded milk. The thickness of the final sauce depends on the proportions of milk and flour.

Origin

The origin of Béchamel sauce is disputed and includes the following claims:

  • The Italian version is that it was invented by Medici's Tuscan cooks who brought it to France from Italy in the seventeenth century, Sauce Béchamel was a slow simmering of milk, veal
    Veal

    Veal is the meat of calves . Though veal can be produced from any calf, most veal comes from male calves of dairy cattle breeds. Compared to other meats, veal has a delicate taste and tender texture....
     stock
    Stock (food)

    Stock is a flavoured liquid. It forms the basis of many dishes, particularly soups and sauces. Stock is prepared by simmering various ingredients in water, including some or all of the following:...
     and seasonings, strained, with an enrichment of cream
    Cream

    Cream is a dairy product that is composed of the higher-butterfat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, over time, the lighter fat rises to the top....
    .


  • It was created by Philippe de Mornay
    Philippe de Mornay

    Philippe de Mornay , seigneur du Plessis Marly, usually known as Du-Plessis-Mornay or Mornay Du Plessis, was a France Protestant writer and member of the Monarchomaques ....
    , who also is reputed to have invented Mornay sauce
    Mornay sauce

    A Mornay sauce is a B?chamel sauce with shredded or grated cheese added. Usually, it is half Gruy?re cheese and half Parmesan cheese, though some variations use different combinations of Gruy?re, Emmental cheese, or white cheddar cheese....
    , Lyonnaise sauce, and Porto sauce.


  • It was invented by Marquis Louis de Béchamel (1630–1703), a seventeenth century financier who held the honorary post of chief steward to Louis XIV (1643-1715).


  • It was created by François Pierre de la Varenne (1615-1678) who was chef to the court of Louis XIV (1643-1715) , during the time that Louis de Béchamel was there. It is believed that La Varenne named the sauce in his honour.


The sauce under its familiar name first appeared in Le Cuisinier François, (published in 1651), by François Pierre La Varenne
François Pierre La Varenne

Fran?ois Pierre de la Varenne , Burgundy by birth, was the author of Le cuisinier fran?ois , the founding text of modern French cuisine. La Varenne broke with the Italian traditions that had revolutionized medieval French cookery in the 16th century....
 (1615 – 1678), chef de cuisine to Nicolas Chalon du Blé, marquis d'Uxelles. The foundation of French cuisine, the Cuisinier François
François Pierre La Varenne

Fran?ois Pierre de la Varenne , Burgundy by birth, was the author of Le cuisinier fran?ois , the founding text of modern French cuisine. La Varenne broke with the Italian traditions that had revolutionized medieval French cookery in the 16th century....
 ran through some thirty editions in seventy-five years. The sauce was named to flatter a courtier, Louis de Béchameil, marquis de Nointel
Louis de Bechamel

Louis de B?chameil, marquis de Nointel, Oise was a France financier and patron of Antoine Watteau, who painted a series of arabesque panels with figures for the h?tel de Nointel, Paris, doubtless, from the nature of the allegories, for a small dining chamber.....
 (1630 – 1703), a financier, sometime intendant
Intendant

The title of intendant has been used in a number of countries through history. Traditionally, it refers to the holder of a public administrative office....
 of Brittany
Brittany

Brittany is a former independent Celtic nations monarchy and duchy, now incorporated into France. It is also, more generally, the name of the cultural area whose limits correspond to the historic province and independent duchy....
, who is sometimes mistakenly credited with having invented it. Many chefs would now regard as authoritative the recipe of Auguste Escoffier presented in Saulnier
Saulnier

Saulnier may refer to:...
's Répertoire
Le Répertoire de la Cuisine

Le R?pertoire de La Cuisine by Th. Gringoire and Louis Saulnier, is a reference book available in the original French language and in English language translations....
: "White roux
Roux

Roux is a mixture of wheat flour and fat, traditionally clarified butter. It is the thickening agent of three of the Sauce#Sauces in French cuisine of classical French cooking: sauce b?chamel, sauce velout?, and sauce espagnole....
 moistened with milk, salt, onion stuck with clove
Clove

Cloves are the aromatic dried flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae. Cloves are native to Indonesia and used as a spice in cuisine all over the world....
, cook for 20 minutes".

Uses

Béchamel sauce is the base for a number of other classic sauces with additional ingredients added including:
  • Mornay sauce
    Mornay sauce

    A Mornay sauce is a B?chamel sauce with shredded or grated cheese added. Usually, it is half Gruy?re cheese and half Parmesan cheese, though some variations use different combinations of Gruy?re, Emmental cheese, or white cheddar cheese....
     (cheese)
  • Nantua sauce
    Nantua sauce

    Nantua sauce is a classical French sauce consisting of:*a B?chamel sauce base*cream*crayfish butter*crayfish tailsThe term ? la Nantua may be used in classical French cuisine to refer to any dish containing crayfish....
     (crayfish
    Crayfish

    Crayfish, crawfish, or crawdads are fresh water crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are related. They breathe through feather-like gills and are found in bodies of water that do not freeze to the bottom; they are also mostly found in brooks and streams where there is fresh water running, and which have shelter ag...
    , butter and cream)
  • Crème sauce (heavy cream
    Heavy Cream

    Heavy Cream is a compilation album Cream released. It is a rare double album, that has never been released on CD. With 22 tracks, it's one of the most comprehensive collections in the catalogue....
    )
  • Mustard sauce (prepared mustard
    Mustard

    Mustard may refer to:...
    )
  • Soubise sauce (finely diced onion
    Onion

    Onion is a term used for many plants in the genus Allium. They are known by the common name "onion" but, used without qualifiers, it usually refers to Allium cepa....
    s that have been sweated in butter)
  • Cheddar cheese sauce (cheddar cheese
    Cheddar cheese

    Cheddar cheese is a relatively hard, pale-yellow to off-white, and sometimes sharp-tasting cheese originating in the English village of Cheddar, in Somerset....
    , dry mustard, Worcestershire sauce
    Worcestershire sauce

    Worcestershire sauce is a fermentation liquid condiment first made at 68 Broad Street, Worcester by two dispensing chemists, John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins....
    )


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