BÉCHAMEL SAUCE
Larousse Gastronomique: The World's Greatest Cookery Encyclopedia (1988 ed.)
BÉCHAMEL SAUCE (from Carême's recipe) Reduce the velouté until it is thick, then bind it with egg yolks and thick cream. Stir with a wooden spoon to make sure the sauce does not stick to the pan. Remove it from the heat, add a piece of butter the size of a walnut and a few tablespoons of double (heavy) cream. Add a pinch of grated nutmeg, sieve through muslin (cheesecloth), and keep hot in a bain-marie.
BÉCHAMEL SAUCE (modern recipe) Melt 40 g (1 1/2 oz, 3 tablespoons) butter over a low heat in a heavy saucepan. Add 40 g (1 1/2 oz, 6 tablespoons) flour and stir briskly until the mixture is smoothly blended, without allowing it to change color. Add 1 litre (17 fl oz, 2 cups) milk and whisk well with a wire whisk to prevent any lumps forming: season with salt and pepper and, if desired (according to what the sauce is to be used for), a little grated nutmeg. Continue to cook the sauce slowly until it is the correct consistency stirring from time to time, so that a skin does not form on the surface.
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