What is Roux?

Roux

Roux: Equal parts of flour and fat (most commonly unsalted butter).

A roux is used as a thickening agent when making sauces, soups, gravies and stews.  When making a roux with butter, measure out both ingredients in equal proportions by weight.  Start the roux in a heavy sauce pan by melting the butter (if you are using butter), and once the butter is melted, slowly incorporate the flour.  Continue stirring over medium heat until all the raw flour is cooked out; the roux will smell like toasted almonds.  It is ready to use at this point, although some recipes, particularly Cajun cooking, call for the roux to be dark.  This will add color and flavor to the dish.  This is achieved by continuing to cook the roux over a medium heat until the roux is dark brown in color, another 2 – 3 minutes.

Some recipes call for the roux to be made in the beginning stages of the sauce.  For example, béchamel is a classic white sauce often used as a base for other sauces, most often cheese sauces or in Italian cooking.  It is made by whisking scalded milk into a white roux (a roux that hasn’t been cooked long, thus the light color).  The process is sometimes reversed depending on the application.  Grandma’s famous turkey gravy is made by adding the roux at the end of the cooking process giving the sauce time to simmer and marry flavors without scorching to the pan.

For those people out there with celiac disease, cornstarch is a great option to thicken something without adding any gluten.  Sometimes cornstarch is preferred for different applications and can even add a nice sheen to a sauce.  More often than not, I go for the roux for the extra body, flavor and depth I get from it versus the cornstarch.

Be creative, use the internet to find recipes and most of all, have fun with it!

Enjoy!