Medium White Sauce

A proportion list rather than a set of directions: equal-ish parts fat and flour cooked together, then a cup of milk. Everything depends on how thick you want it, and medium is the all-purpose grade used for creamed vegetables, scalloped dishes and as the base for cheese or egg sauces.

• The working proportionWithin the ranges given, 2 tablespoons flour to 2 tablespoons fat and 1 cup milk is the usual medium reading; the page's upper figures (3 and 3) give a thicker, more binding sauce of the kind used for croquettes. The recipe itself does not print a thin proportion.
• FatThe recipe specifies only "fat," which in a book of this kind would usually mean butter, though bacon fat, chicken fat and drippings were also used. Margarine and neutral oil both work; oil gives a slightly slacker sauce.
• Cook the flourThe hinge is letting the flour and fat bubble together for a minute or two before any liquid goes in. Skip it and the sauce tastes pasty no matter how long it simmers afterwards.
• Adding the milkOff the heat, whisk in the milk a little at a time until smooth, then return to a moderate flame and stir until it thickens and boils. It needs a full minute at the boil to lose its raw-starch edge.
• LumpsAdding cold milk gradually to a hot roux is one dependable route (warming the milk first is another). If it goes lumpy, straining or a quick blitz with a stick blender will usually put it right.
• SeasoningA quarter teaspoon of salt per cup is a starting point, not a finish; taste after the sauce has thickened. A scrape of nutmeg is traditional with vegetables and fish.
• YieldAbout 1 cup, enough to dress vegetables or fish for four. It doubles and triples without adjustment.
• Holding and reheatingA round of buttered paper or a film pressed to the surface keeps a skin from forming. Reheat gently with a splash of milk; a hard boil after standing can make it break or turn gluey.