Here is the second installment of our "Sauce Guide" saga. After taming the milky whiteness of Béchamel, we move up a notch with a sauce that embodies absolute finesse: Velouté .
If Béchamel is the sauce of family comfort, Velouté is the sauce of refinement. It's the sauce that, in a restaurant, makes you close your eyes from the first bite because its texture is so... velvety.
However, the technical difference with Béchamel sauce is minimal, but the result in the mouth is radically different. Welcome to the world of "liquid silk".
The Story: Velouté, or the Legacy of the Great Bouillons
In Escoffier's culinary system, Velouté occupies a central place because it bridges the gap between the world of clear broths and that of thickened sauces. In the 19th century, chefs sought a way to add body to meat or fish broths without using cream or milk, which sometimes masked the original flavor of the product too much.
The Velouté was born from this desire for purity. We take the very essence of poultry, veal or fish, and give it a noble structure thanks to a blond roux .
The Science of Taste: The Blond Red and the Light Liming
Unlike Béchamel which uses a white roux (cooked for 2 minutes), Velouté requires a blond roux .
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The Blond Roux: The butter and flour are cooked slightly longer, until a very light nutty aroma develops and the color turns golden (like hot sand). This additional cooking slightly alters the starch: the consistency will be a little less "heavy" than with a white roux.
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The Clear Stock: The liquid element here is no longer milk, but a stock . A chicken stock for a sauce to accompany chicken, a fish stock for a sea bass fillet, or a veal stock for white meat.
The Just Cook Eat Technique: The Step-by-Step Guide
Proportions for a basic Velouté:
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50g of butter
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50g of flour
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600ml of clear stock (poultry, veal or fish) at room temperature or cold.
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Salt and white pepper.
The foolproof method:
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Light Roux: Melt the butter, add the flour. Mix and cook over medium-low heat for 4 to 5 minutes. The mixture should turn a light golden color but never brown.
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Hydration: Gradually pour in the light-colored stock while whisking. As with Béchamel sauce, the thermal shock (hot roux/cold liquid) helps prevent lumps.
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Simmering: This is the crucial step for the Velouté. Let it simmer over very low heat for 15 to 20 minutes . Why so long? To allow the flavors to concentrate and the texture to refine.
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Skimming: During cooking, a small amount of foam may rise to the surface. Remove it with a spoon to keep your sauce perfectly shiny and smooth.
The Family Tree: 10 Sauces, Daughters of Velouté
Velouté is an incredible base. By adding a final binding agent (often egg yolks and cream), you get wonderful results:
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Supreme Sauce: A creamy chicken velouté enriched with crème fraîche. Perfect for a vol-au-vent.
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German (or Parisian) sauce: A veal velouté thickened with egg yolks and cream. Extremely rich.
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Bercy sauce: A fish velouté with shallots reduced in white wine and parsley.
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Chicken Sauce: German sauce with added lemon juice and chopped mushrooms.
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Aurore Sauce (Velveuté version): Velouté of poultry tinted with fine tomato puree.
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Ravigote sauce: A basic velouté soup enlivened by vinegar and chopped herbs.
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Normandy Sauce: Fish velouté, egg yolks, cream and oyster or mussel juice. The taste of the ocean.
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Venetian Sauce: Fish velouté with green herbs (parsley, tarragon, chervil) and tarragon vinegar.
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Albufera Sauce: Supreme sauce with added meat glaze and Espelette pepper butter (or bell pepper).
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Hungarian Sauce: Velouté of chicken or veal with melted onions and paprika.
The Chief's Council
The difference between a good cream soup and a chef's cream soup lies in the straining . Once your sauce is finished, pass it through a very fine sieve (like cheesecloth) by pressing with the back of a spoon. This step guarantees the complete absence of micro-grains and gives your dish that glossy, mirror-like appearance.
Want to try "liquid silk"? Now that you know the theory, put it into practice with our recipe for Traditional Veal Stew - Coming soon to just-cook-eat.com
And get ready, because in the next article, we're going to shift gears to explore the power and fire of [Spanish Sauce: The Queen of Brown Sauces] .
