Fish, Veal, or Chicken Velouté

Flour-thickened sauces have recently gained a bad reputation. Like great courtesans, they seem to come and go. Their recent decline in fashion is the result of years of malpractice. In and of themselves, properly executed, they are light, ethereal, digestible and, in this case, liquid velvet. Veloutés must be simmered for an hour and skimmed constantly. Then they can be enriched with cream or egg yolks and cream, or a flavored butter—tarragon or lobster, or ginger-cilantro, for example. Use