Episode 40: Roux

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Let's taco 'bout it!

• Sharon told about how We got to try some yummy olive oil and balsamic vinegar at the newly opened We Olive and Wine bar at Trolley Square in Salt Lake City. Winter Winter loved the asparagus dish (from this Martha Stewart recipe) that Lee made for a family dinner.
• Thanks to Richard for the topic recommendation this week. 
• What is roux? Flour and butter mixed together and used to thicken sauces and soups. It also adds flavor and color.
• Instant roux packets are a thing--especially if you're making a gumbo or jumbalaya.
• Sharon reports that browning your flour he
• This is the easy mac and cheese recipe with the blonde roux that you can try by the Pioneer Woman.
• Roux can go into the other French mother sauces: bechemal, veloute, and espagnole. 
• Harold McGee reports an old recipe on a Wild Boars Head with Sauce--a black or yellow sauce. This was a pretty decent recipe considering its age as we discussed in our previous episode with Anna Curran on The History of Cookbooks. Boars Head Meat--is this the origin?
• The science of roux: Starch (complex carbohydrate) + Fat (coating the starch granules) + Heat + Movement, leads to more  granules swelling with liquid, also known as gelatinization. 
• Cornstarch vs wheat flour: does it make a difference? Yes! Cornstarch is pure starch. Wheat flour is starch AND protein (aka gluten). We talked about gluten in our first episode on pie!
• The darker the roux, the more you will need to thicken your sauce, because of the shorter chains of complex carbohydrate. The blonder the roux, the less you will need--think bechemel.
• There are some other thickeners for those who need a gluten free version: guar gums, arrowroot, proteins, potato starch, etc.
• Our Food Fight listener is having environmental concerns with her friend always offering bottled water. What should she do?
• Please subscribe to the podcast--and share it with a friend (it's easy)! Remember to send us a listeners email to hungrysquared@gmail.com--we'd love it!

Run Time: 35 minutes

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