July 9th, 2009
My Mom, Carol and Me, Cindy
My answers: Yes, I am Catholic, although we have many religious denominations in South Louisiana. My mom’s name is Carol Plaisance Adams, a beautiful, very proud native Cajun French speaking (a dying native tongue of our culture) lady, born and raised on Bayou Lafourche (she is responsible for my love of Cajun cooking). And finally, OF COURSE, I can make a roux…did you not read who’s my momma….
That brings me to our topic….Roux. This is such a large topic, we are going to break it down to two discussions. First, what is a roux?…I am going to keep this simple to laymen terms so the everyday cook understands.
Roux (roo) is a blend of an oil base (butter, meat drippings, vegetable oils, etc.) and flour cooked to different browning points depending on the dish being prepared.
A blond roux is cooked only until the flour taste is cooked out of the combination. This type of roux is often used in white gravies, macaroni and cheese, and bisques, etc. Any sauce or gravy uses this colorless roux if you want thickening without coloring. Also please note, for any roux, you will only get the full thickening effect once the sauce has come to a boil.
A medium tone or often referred to as a “peanut butter” colored roux is used in etouffees, roast gravies, and some lighter colored stews. This colored roux will impart a more developed tone to a sauce or gravy.
A dark roux is the king of Cajun/Creole dishes. Much care must be given when cooking a roux to this state as there is a fine line between dark and burnt. Once you see black specs in your roux it is ruined and you must start over. So keep in mind, low and slow on your heat. Dark rouxs are the reason we have gumbo and fricassee (rich stew).
A rich dark roux, the beginnings of a great gumbo
In the second part of this blog, I will introduce you to a healthy alternative to oil based roux. Tony Chachere’s Instant Roux Mix is so easy to use and flavorful, you will not miss all that fat….stay tuned!
Cindy Adams-Ardoin
Food Scientist
Tony Chachere’s
