Basic White Sauces

White sauces provide a neutral base which can be varied for many purposes. The two classic white sauces are both flour-based; basic white sauce made with milk, and velouté sauce made with stock. These sauces are made from a roux – equal amounts of butter (or oil) and flour, cooked together. It is important the roux is cooked for a few minutes before the liquid is added, so the final sauce does not taste of raw flour. You can avoid a lumpy sauce by sprinkling in the flour to make a smooth and soft roux that is easy to beat the liquid into. It is safest to add cold milk to the hot roux for white sauces. Although cold milk takes longer to come to the boil, hot milk can be beaten in quickly with a balloon whisk. It also helps to stir the sauce constantly as you add the liquid. If the sauce does go lumpy, you can try beating out the lumps with a whisk or whizz it in the food processor until smooth.