Milk infusing with bay leaf, peppercorns, shallot and flat-leaf parsley prior to being added to the roux
The first recipe of a sauce similar to béchamel is in the bookLe cuisinier françois byFrançois Pierre de La Varenne in 1651, made with aroux (also known as Willagrease paste), as in modern recipes.[4]
The first named béchamel sauce appears inThe Modern Cook, written byVincent La Chapelle and published in 1733,[5] in which the following recipe for "Turbots (a la Bechameille)" appears:
Take someParsley andChibbol,[6] and mince them very small, put in a Saucepan a good lump of Butter, with your Parsley and Chibbol, and some minced Shallots, season'd with Salt and Pepper, some Nutmeg, and a dust of Flour: Take aTurbot boil'd inCourt Bouillon, take it off by pieces and put it into your Stew-pan: put in a little Cream, Milk, or a little Water, put it over the Fire, and stir it now and then, that your Sauce may thicken; then let it be of a good Taste, dish it up, and serve it up hot for a first Course.[7]
There are many legends regarding the origin of béchamel sauce. For example, it is widely repeated in Italy that the sauce was created in Tuscany under the name "salsa colla" and brought to France withCatherine de Medici, but this is an invented story,[8] and archival research has shown that "in the list of service people who had dealt with Catherine de Medici, since her arrival in France and until her death, there were absolutely no Italian chefs."[9] Both the béchamel recipe and its name have been adopted, even adapted, in many languages and culinary traditions.
Béchamel can be used as the base for many other sauces, such asMornay, which is béchamel withcheese.[18] In Greek cuisine, béchamel (σάλσα μπεσαμέλ) is often enriched with egg.[19]
InEgypt, béchamel is an important and basic sauce used in many dishes, such as Egyptianmacarona bil-bechamel, a comfort food recipe popular in Egypt made from penne pasta and a minced meat sauce baked with béchamel.[28]
Free Culinary School Video Episode 11—An educational podcast episode that talks about the classical French technique used for making Sauce Béchamel and a few secondary sauces including Mornay, Basic Cream, Cheddar Cheese or any hard cheese and Mustard Sauce.
