[Sca-cooks] re:Bechamel

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Mary Denise Smith wrote:

 > I checked my copy of Louis Diat's cookbook. He cooks BÚchamel for 30
minutes.
 >  Diat was born in 1885 in Bordeaux, and was the first "executive chef"
 >  at the Ritz in Paris and in NY.
 >
 > MD/Marged


I _really_ like Diat. Enough a member of the old school to be very
seriously French, but also kind of laid-back in the manner of later,
American chefs. In many ways ahead of his time.

I was taught that roux-thickened sauces need to be simmered for an
absolute minimum of 20 minutes for flavor, but that 40 is better for
appearance.

And then, of course, the likelihood is that Muiredach's teacher (or was
it employer?), of the three-day Bechamel, was working with the
veal-veloute-version enriched with cream, anyway, and not the wimpy
milk-based white sauce most of us think of when we say bechamel...

Adamantius
--
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com

"It was so blatant that Roger threw at him.  Clemens gets away with
things that get other people thrown out of games.  As long as they
let him get away with it, it's going  to continue." -- Joe Torre, 9/98