On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1169

disperseinahotliquid,rouxmakinghasthree
otherusefuleffectsontheflour.First,itcooks
out the raw cereal flavor and develops a
rounded, toasty flavor that becomes more
pronounced and intense as the color darkens.
Second, the color itself — the product of the
same
browning
reactions
between
carbohydrates and proteins that produce the
toasty flavor — can lend some depth to the
colorofthesauce.
Finally,theheatcausessomeofthestarch
chainstosplit,andthentoformnewbonds
witheachother.Thisgenerallymeansthat
longchainsandbranchesarebrokendown
intosmallerpiecesthatthenformshort
branchesonothermolecules.Theshort,
branchedmoleculesarelessefficientat
thickeningliquidsthanthelongchains,but
they’realsoslowertobondtoeachotherand
formacontinuousnetworkastheliquidcools.
Thesauceisthereforelesspronetocongeal
ontheplate.Thedarkertheroux,themore


starchchainsaremodifiedinthisway,andso
themorerouxisrequiredtocreateagiven
thickness.Ittakesmoreofadarkbrownroux
thanalightonetothickenagivenamountof

liquid.(Theindustrialversionofrouxmaking
tomakeastarchmoredispersableandstable
tocoolingiscalleddextrinization,and
involvesheatingdrystarchtogetherwith
somediluteacidoralkalito375ºF/190ºC.)
OutsideofFrance,rouxareespecially
prominentinthecookingofNewOrleans,
whereflouriscookedtoanumberofdifferent
stagesfrompaletochocolate-brown,and
wherecooksmayuseseveralrouxinasingle
gumboorstewtolendtheirdistinctlayersof
flavor.
StarchinClassicFrenchSauces

InthecodeformalizedbyAugusteEscoffier
in1902,therearethreeleadingmothersauces
thatarethickenedinpartwithflour:the