Escoffier At Home

Tag: roux blond

  • 0022. Velouté de Poisson, Fish Velouté

    0022. Velouté de Poisson, Fish Velouté

     

    Escoffier recipe for making velouté de poisson, fish velouté sauce, at home (Escoffier, 22).

    Velouté (“veh-looh-TAY”) is one of the five ‘mother sauces’ of classical French cuisine. Fish velouté, or velouté de poisson (“veh-looh-TAY day PWAH-sohn”) is used in making lighter-colored and compound sauces such as Sauce Bercy, Sauce Normandie, and others. Fish veloute is a white sauce lightly flavored with fish stock, or fumét, and thickened with a blond roux.

    Mise en place for fish velouté:
    Fish Veloute

     

    Fish Velouté

    Heat the fish fumét up in a medium saucepan, and gradually stir in the cold (or room temp) blond roux. Colder roux works best when it is mixed with a hot liquid. A couple general rules about roux: The darker the roux, the more flavorful it will be; and the lighter the roux, the less you’ll need to thicken a sauce. This is because the longer you cook your roux, the quicker the starch in the flour breaks down. A blond roux does well to both flavor and thicken a velouté de poisson, while keeping the velouté light in color.

    Veloute de Poisson

    Simmer for 90 minutes, stirring occasionally to avoid a skin forming on the surface, and voila! There you have it.

    Veloute de Poisson

    Ingredients
    1000g (4 cups) fish fumét
    155g (1 1/4 cups) blond roux

    Equipment
    Salter digital scale
    Measuring bowls
    Medium saucepan
    Wire whisk
    Rubber spatula
    Plastic containers

  • 0014. Roux Blond, Blond Roux

    0014. Roux Blond, Blond Roux

     

    Escoffier recipe for making roux blond, blond roux, at home (Escoffier, 14).

    What is a roux? It’s a simple thickener, made with only two ingredients – butter and flour! Roux blond (“roo BLON”), is made the same way as roux blanc. The only difference is it’s cooked few minutes more, until the flour starts turning a golden blonde color. Keep cooking it and you get roux brun.

    Mise en place for blond roux:
    Mise-en-place for making roux

     

    Blond Roux

    Make some clarified butter, by melting the unsalted butter, skimming off its foam and saving the yellow butterfat.

    Make clarified butter

    Clarified Butter

    Mix the clarified butter and flour together in a heavy pan and cook on low heat, whisking for about 15-20 minutes — or until the flour smells nutty and begins to turn a golden color. It may take more or less time depending on the level of heat used.

    blonde roux

    This roux is used to thicken up lighter-colored sauces, like fish velouté.

    White roux and brown roux are made the exact same way, only cooked for different lengths of time. Here’s a shot of them side-by-side for comparison. From left to right: white, blond and brown roux.

    White, Blond, and Brown Roux

    Ingredients
    225g clarified unsalted butter
    275g sifted, all-purpose flour

    Equipment
    Salter digital scale
    Cutting board and kitchen knife
    Heavy-bottomed pan or medium saucepan
    Wire whisk
    Plastic container