What is Roux?
[[File:Thickening.jpg|250px|thumb|A roux-based sauce]] '''''Roux''''' <ref>A French word, pronounced 'roo' in English.</ref> is a cooking mixture of wheat [[flour]] and [[butter]] (or other fat). It is the basis of many types of French [[sauce]] for cooking. Roux is the thickening agent of three of the [[mother sauce]]s of classical [[French cuisine]]: ''[[sauce béchamel]]'', ''[[sauce velouté]]'' and ''[[sauce espagnole]]''. [[Clarified butter]],<ref>Melted butter minus its solids, leaving liquid fats.</ref> [[vegetable oil]]s, or [[lard]] are commonly used fats. It thickens [[gravy]], other [[sauce]]s, [[soup]]s and [[stew]]s. It is made from equal parts of flour and fat by weight.<ref>{{cite book|last=Berolzheimer|first=Ruth|title=The American Woman's cook book|publisher=Garden City Publishing|location=New York|year=1942|page=307}}</ref> When used in [[Italian cooking]], roux is traditionally equal parts of butter and flour. In [[Cajun cuisine]], roux is almost always made with oil instead of butter and is dark brown in colour. This lends much richness of flavour, but less thickening power. [[Hungarian cuisine]] uses rendered [[lard]] or [[vegetable oil]] instead of butter for the preparation of ''roux'' (called ''rántás'' in [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]]). == References == {{Reflist}} [[Category:French food]] [[Category:Sauces]]