Roux

Appears in

By John Martin Taylor

Published 1992

  • About

You may notice throughout the book that the soups and sauces are seldom thickened with flour. There is nothing wrong with flour as a thickener if it is cooked properly before it is added. The easiest way to make roux is to put equal parts of flour and fat in a sheet pan and bake at 350° until the desired color is achieved, stirring the mixture every 10 or 15 minutes so that it does not scorch. I use equal parts of rendered duck fat and rendered bacon or pork fat for an intriguing flavor, cooking the roux until it is a rich mahogany color. I remove some from the pan and allow the rest to reach an intense chocolate color. The darker roux goes into seafood gumbos. I freeze it in ½-cup quantities in plastic containers.