Roux

A mixture of butter and flour cooked over low heat. Used for thickening a sauce and soups. The roux can be prepared in three ways. White - where the mixture is barely cooked and takes on no colour. This is used to produce a white sauce called Béchamel. Fawn - where the roux is cooked for a few minutes so that it starts to color slightly, this is used to make white sauces - Veloute Brown - where the roux is cooked to the colour of white coffee and is used to make brown sauces such as Espagnole. see also Boiling