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Culinary Arts & Cooking vocabulary · Ingredients, Stocks & Sauces

Béchamel

Meaning in culinary arts & cooking, with examples

nounCommon term

In culinary arts & cooking, béchamel means: A white sauce made by thickening milk with a light roux.

In Turkish: beşamel sos

How it is used

A common base in gratins and baked dishes; milk distinguishes it from stock sauces.

Example sentences

  1. Spread the béchamel between the layers of lasagne.

    The milk-based sauce adds a creamy layer to the dish.

  2. The béchamel was too thick to pour over the vegetables.

    The example evaluates consistency for a specific application.

Common collocations

  • béchamel sauce
  • make a béchamel
  • rouxA mixture of equal amounts of fat, usually butter, and flour cooked together and used to thicken sauces and soups.
  • mother sauceOne of the five basic sauces of classic French cooking, as set out by Escoffier: béchamel, velouté, espagnole, hollandaise and tomato. Many other sauces are made from them.

More terms: Ingredients, Stocks & Sauces

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