Which base thickener is created by cooking fat and flour together?

Which base thickener is created by cooking fat and flour together?

• A. Roux
• B. Slurry
• C. Beurre Manié
• D. Cornstarch

Answer: (A)

Roux is created by cooking fat and flour together. By heating fat (often butter) with flour you form a paste in which the starch granules swell when it hits hot liquid, thickening sauces or soups. The longer you cook the roux, the lighter or darker it becomes, which also changes flavor. This distinguishes it from a slurry, which is starch (usually cornstarch) mixed with cold liquid and added to hot liquid without cooking fat and flour together beforehand. Beurre manié is butter kneaded with flour and stirred into hot liquid to thicken quickly, but the flour isn’t cooked with the fat first. Cornstarch thickens when heated with liquid, typically after being dispersed in water, not by cooking fat and flour together. So the base thickener formed by cooking fat and flour is roux.

Roux is created by cooking fat and flour together. By heating fat (often butter) with flour you form a paste in which the starch granules swell when it hits hot liquid, thickening sauces or soups. The longer you cook the roux, the lighter or darker it becomes, which also changes flavor. This distinguishes it from a slurry, which is starch (usually cornstarch) mixed with cold liquid and added to hot liquid without cooking fat and flour together beforehand. Beurre manié is butter kneaded with flour and stirred into hot liquid to thicken quickly, but the flour isn’t cooked with the fat first. Cornstarch thickens when heated with liquid, typically after being dispersed in water, not by cooking fat and flour together. So the base thickener formed by cooking fat and flour is roux.