starch into a sauce The first is to mix the starch with some cold water, so that the granules are wetted and separated before they encounter gelation temperatures The starchwater slurry can then be added directly to the sauce A second method is to separate the starch or flour particles not with water, but with fat Beurre manié, or “kneaded butter,” is flour worked into a paste with its weight in butter When a piece of the paste is added to a hot sauce in need of last-minute thickening, the butter melts and gradually releases greased starch particles into the liquid, where their swelling and gelation are slowed by the water-repelling surface layer A third method for getting starch into a sauce is to introduce it early in the cooking, not late Many stews and fricassees are made by dusting pieces of meat with flour, then sautéing the pieces, and only then adding a cooking liquid that will become the sauce In this way the starch has already been dispersed over the large surface area of the meat pieces, and it has been precoated with the sautéing fat, which prevents clumping when the liquid is added Roux The fourth method for getting starch into a sauce, and one that has been developed into a minor art of its own, is to preheat the starch separately in fat to make what the French call a roux, from the word for “red.” The basic principle works with any form of starch and any fat or oil In the traditional French system, the cook carefully heats equal weights of flour and butter in a pan to one of three consecutive endpoints: the mixture has had the moisture cooked out of it, but the flour remains white; the flour develops a light yellow color; or the flour develops a distinctly brown color Improvements in Flavor, Color, and Dispersability In addition to coating the flour particles with fat and making them easier to ... of starch and any fat or oil In the traditional French system, the cook carefully heats equal weights of flour and butter in a pan to one of three consecutive endpoints: the mixture has had the. .. into a sauce, and one that has been developed into a minor art of its own, is to preheat the starch separately in fat to make what the French call a roux, from the word for “red.” The basic principle...over the large surface area of the meat pieces, and it has been precoated with the sautéing fat, which prevents clumping when the liquid is added Roux The fourth method for getting