How to make Béchamel Sauce > White Sauce

Béchamel Sauce is known as one of the Mother Sauces in French cuisine.

Other Mother Sauces.

To make a Béchamel Sauce you begin in a saute pan on medium heat. The proportions you use of butter and flour and milk will determine how thick the sauce is.

Usually the proportions are 1 to 1, butter to flour.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter, then sift 2 tablespoons of flour and whisk vigorously until a paste forms.

By letting a paste form and continuing to whisk the flour begins to cook and smell nutty. Once this occurs you can add 1 to 2 cups of milk, depending on how thick you need the sauce. Once you begin to whisk the milk in the mixture will thicken fast. It will be at its most thick when it is at or near a boil.