Velouté

White stock + blond roux. The base for a thousand sauces.

Escoffier's white mother sauce. On its own it is polite. Enriched with cream (sauce suprême), or built out with reductions, wines, herbs, it becomes a family tree.

Method

01
Melt 40g butter, whisk in 40g plain flour. Cook a full 3 minutes until it smells of biscuit — no colour.
02
Whisk in 500ml warm white stock in three additions, whisking each time until smooth.
03
Simmer gently for 20 minutes, skimming the surface. Season sparingly — you'll build on it later.
04
Pass through a chinois. Cover with butter paper touching the surface to prevent skin.

Chef's notebook

“Warm your stock before adding — cold stock into a hot roux clumps every time.”
“Twenty minutes minimum simmer to cook out the raw flour taste.”