Life Is Meals: A Food Lover's Book of Days Tapa blanda - 2010

Extracto

Béchamel Sauce

Béchamel, the delicious white sauce for creamed vegetables, soufflés, and croquettes, first appeared in France during the reign of Louis XIV (1643-1715), though it may have been created earlier and elsewhere. It was named for Louis de Bechameil, a handsome, corrupt financier who served as the king's majordomo. He had all the luck, complained an old duke who said he had been serving chicken in a cream sauce since before Bechameil was born, and no one had named any kind of sauce for him.

Béchamel is simple to make and takes only about five minutes. There are a number of variations using more or less butter and flour, depending on the desired thickness, but the foundation for all of them is the same.


Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk heated to a boil in a small saucepan


In a saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the flour slowly, stirring until they are smoothly blended without browning. Remove from heat. Add the milk and stir vigorously with a wire whisk. Set over medium heat, stirring until the sauce comes to a boil; then cook for another minute, stirring constantly. Makes two cups.


From the Hardcover edition.

Reseñas en medios

“Wholly compelling . . . The fruit of a lifetime of informed and opinionated eating.” —Alice Waters, Chez Panisse

“Thumbs-up . . . I recommend reading it in one fell swoop.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“Pays homage to great writers, great meals, great conversations and essential ingredients . . . A bastion of civilization, protection from all kinds of heavy weather.” —Los Angeles Times

“A remarkable marriage of food book and life-well-lived memoir . . . This most unusual book is to be savored again and again.” —Seattle Post-Intelligencer