On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1172

ofmilkandflourproteinsthatformsatthe
surface.Starchismoreeffectiveatthickening
milkthanitismeatstocks,apparently
becauseitbondsbothtothemilkproteinsand
thefatglobulesandsorecruitstheseweighty
ingredientsintoitsflow-slowingnetwork.
Thankstoitspleasantbutneutralflavor,
béchamelisaversatilesaucethatcanbe
imbuedwithmanyflavorsandservedwith
manymainingredients.It’salsomadein
severalthicknessesforavarietyofpurposes.
Thickpreparations(6%flourbyweight)serve
asthebaseforsoufflés,somewhatthinner
onesasamoisteningandenrichmentfor
gratins.
Inthe“boileddressing”oftenusedinthe
UnitedStatestomoistencoleslawandother
robustsalads,flournotonlythickensthemilk
and/orcream,butalsohelpspreventthe
vinegarfromcurdlingthemilkandegg-yolk
proteinsintocoarseparticles.
Gravy


Gravy

WecomenowtothehomelyAnglo-American
cousinofFrenchsauces,thestarch-thickened
gravytypicallymadetoaccompanyaroast.
Thisisalast-minutesaucethat’sputtogether
justbeforeserving,andconsistsoftheroast’s

juices,extendedwithadditionalliquid,and
thickenedwithflour.Thedrippingsfromthe
roast,bothfatandbrownedsolids,givethe
gravyitsflavorandcolor.Firstthefatis
pouredoffandreserved,andthepanis
“deglazed”:thebrownedsolidsareliftedfrom
theroastingpanwithasmallamountofwater,
wine,beer,orstock.Theliquiddissolvesthe
browning-reactionproductsthathavestuckto
thepanandsotakesuptheirespeciallyrich
flavors.Thedeglazingliquidispouredoffand
reservedseparately.Nowsomeofthefatis
returnedtothepanwithanequalvolumeof
flour,andtheflourcookeduntilithaslostits
rawaroma.Thedeglazingliquidisadded,
aroundacup/250mlforevery1–2