<p><a onclick="window.open(this.href, '_blank', 'width=800,height=533,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0'); return false" href="http://blog.ruhlman.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2007/12/17/final.jpg"><img width="600" height="399" border="0" src="http://blog.ruhlman.com/images/2007/12/17/final.jpg" title="Final" alt="Final" /></a></p>
<p>(Two tablespoons butter, two tablespoons flour, <em>beurre manié,</em> photo by <a href="http://dtrphotography.com/">Donna</a>.)</p>
<p><strong><em>Beurre manié </em>[<em>bur mahn-YAY</em>]</strong>: <em>Butter into which an equal volume of flour has been rubbed and kneaded becomes an easy, effective way to thicken small amounts of sauces while also enriching them. A slurry (cornstarch and water), may be quicker and more widely used, but it doesn’t enrich or add flavor. Butter does. Beurre manié is especially suited to thickening pan gravies, meat stews, fish stews, and the poaching liquid in which fish has cooked (sometimes called cuisson; see also shallow poach), and should be used a la minute, just before serving.</em></p>
<p>In other words, it’s uncooked roux and works the same way. Fat separates the flour granules so that they remain separate as they expand to thicken a sauce. <a href="http://ahungerartist.bobdelgrosso.com/2007/12/thickening-it-old-school.html">Bob del Grosso posted some pix</a> of this after some email we exchanged, there were some great comments about thickening generally, and then foodist was inspired to write a post about roux on Bob's site.</p>
<p>Flour-thickened sauces are beautiful if you prepare them thoughtfully, which means two things: adding the right amount of roux and eliminating the starchy feel from the sauce cooking it gently and skimming the gunk that collects on the surface. I think roux got a bad name generally as French haute cuisine developed a reputation for being fat and heavy (fine cuisine should never feel heavy). Roux does not make a sauce fat or heavy. Indeed, it can be a healthful form of cooking. The béchamel sauce, for instance, milk thickened with roux and flavored with aromats, is a great way to add creaminess to pastas without using huge amounts of cream and butter. Moreover, milk is a kitchen staple and always on hand (unlike fresh stock, but I don’t want to get into that again!).</p>
<p>Chefs today tend more toward natural reductions. Sounds nice, doesn’t it—“natural reductions.” I find that too often natural reductions that are brought to sauce consistency are gluey on the palate. Also, in terms of home cooking, flour thickening is more convenient. I find that flour thickened sauces have a rich elegant feel if the starch is properly handled.</p>
<p>Someone on del Grosso’s post questioned the liaison. I might have posted that as today’s element. A liason, a mixture of yolk and cream (traditionally 1 yolk per half coup of cream), can be added to creamy stews to enrich them. Liasons don’t have much thickening power given but give a creamy stew and incomparable velvety luxurious texture. It is indeed another element of cooking commonly overlooked in today’s kitchens.</p>
<p>(Post script: David Leite, of Leite’s Culinaria, <a href="http://www.leitesculinaria.com/">has posted what seems to be a reappraisal of my book</a>, <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743299787/ref=nosim/ruhlmancom">The Elements of Cooking</a></em>. David is a good and generous writer and the site he started has won many deserved awards, and I’m glad for his review.)</p>
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