Béchamel Sauce aka White Sauce

Author: Francine Lizotte

I think that one thing all kids around the world like to do when getting home from school is to run to the kitchen to see what their parents are cooking. I was lucky that my mother didn’t have to work outside and was at home 🏡 every day. She was always in the kitchen (like mother, like daughter) cooking something and baking some yummy desserts and snacks.

Although I had a serious sweet tooth 🦷 as a child, I always enjoyed the main course. I’m not too sure if it’s because we’re French Canadian but many dishes were cooked in or with sauces. It seems like there was always a sauce accompanying the meal.

When I first went out on my own, cooking was very challenging. For some reason I never really paid attention when my mother was cooking – I just didn’t have any desire to learn. I was a “tomboy” and being outside playing was my thing. My only chore in the kitchen was to wash the dishes (not by choice) and licking the beaters (totally my idea) when she was making a cake batter 🍰. Other than that, I had no interest in cooking or baking.

So back when I got my first place, I started making very simple dishes like Shepherd’s Pie, Tuna Casserole 🐟, Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy, Frankie’s Macaroni Casserole, and a few more.

Eventually, I moved on to slightly more complicated recipes. One thing I got pretty good at was making sauces. These were my savior because if I didn’t cook my dish properly 😣, the sauce would help to cover it up… well, that was my way of thinking until I became good in the kitchen.

There was a sauce my mother 👵 made often and it’s Béchamel Sauce also known as White Sauce. It was used in many different dishes. It was later on that I found out that Béchamel is one of the 5 classic mother sauces in French cuisine.

It’s a very simple “basic” sauce that can be altered to other sauces called secondary. One of them is Mornay (it’s béchamel with Gruyère or Parmesan cheese 🧀) which I love to use quite often especially for my Mac & Cheese, Pierogi Casserole, Cod au Gratin, etc.

There’s more under the Béchamel Sauce…
Soubise (onion sauce 🧅) that I love spooning over grilled pork chops or loin 🐖, another Cheddar Cheese which is amazing on steamed vegetables or drizzled on fish (it makes a great sauce for Nachos), Écossaise that is spooned over eggs, Nantua Sauce for crawfish or shrimp, Mustard Sauce, Cardinal Sauce which is great over pasta, Bohémienne Sauce… a cold, rich sauce that complements salmon beautifully, and the famous Alfredo Sauce.

It doens’t matter which level you are at in the kitchen, every home cook 👩‍🍳👨‍🍳 should know how to make a good Béchamel Sauce. It’s quite simple and an amazing base for many other sauce recipes.
Bon Appétit! 🍽

Here are other delicious sauce recipes for you to try…😀
– Sauce Robert
– Seafood Cocktail Sauce
– Iguana’s Mushroom Sauce
– Hawaiian Style Teriyaki Sauce
– Homemade Tzatziki Sauce
– Tartar Sauce
– Triple Chili Wing Sauce
and for even more delicious sauce and marinade recipes 🥣, click on this link… Recipe Category • Sauces & Marinades

Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel 📽 by clicking on this link… Club Foody YouTube