Béchamelle or Béchamel

Here is the Italian explanation as given to me so nicely by my pleasant colleague Giuliano Bugialli. The Italian word balsamo means balm. As a soothing balm—we would nowadays say a mask—for the tender skin of their lovely faces, genteel Italian ladies of the fifteenth century made a balsamo with milk, flour, and perhaps also some butter; hence the name given to the Italian white sauce made with butter, flour, and milk: balsamella.