KITCHEN PRACTICE 2 — Basic White Sauce (Béchamel)
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MAKES ABOUT 500ML (ENOUGH FOR A SMALL GRATIN OR PASTA BAKE)

INGREDIENTS
  2 tablespoons (about 30g) butter
  2 tablespoons (about 30g) plain flour
  500ml milk
  Salt and pepper
  Optional: a small pinch of grated nutmeg (a classic, traditional touch)

METHOD

Step 1 — Melt the butter.
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat until fully melted but
not browned or bubbling aggressively.

Step 2 — Whisk in the flour.
Add the flour all at once and whisk it into the butter immediately —
it will form a thick, pasty mixture. This is your roux.

Step 3 — Cook the roux briefly.
Keep whisking over the heat for 1-2 minutes. It should stay pale — a
white roux, not browned — which is what cooks out the raw-flour taste
without adding unwanted colour to the finished sauce.

Step 4 — Add the milk gradually.
This is the step that actually prevents lumps: add the milk a small
splash at a time, whisking continuously and fully incorporating each
addition before pouring in the next. Don't rush this by adding it all
at once.

Step 5 — Simmer until thickened.
Once all the milk is incorporated, bring it to a very gentle simmer
(Chapter 4's own gentle-bubbles definition), whisking regularly, for
about 5 minutes until it visibly thickens and coats the back of a
spoon.

Step 6 — Season and finish.
Season with salt, pepper, and the optional nutmeg. Taste and adjust —
Chapter 5's own tasting discipline applies here too, even to a sauce
this simple.

Step 7 — Check for lumps.
If you do end up with a few small lumps despite whisking carefully,
push the sauce through a fine sieve — a genuine fix, not a failure,
and worth knowing about.

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WHY THIS WORKS
Every step here maps directly onto Chapter 8's own roux explanation:
equal parts fat and flour, cooked briefly to remove the raw taste, then
liquid added gradually specifically to avoid the lumps that come from
adding it too fast. This exact base sauce, learned once, is reused
across a huge number of other dishes — a mac and cheese, a lasagne, a
gratin — all starting from this same technique.