Instructions: Although the entire art of saucemaking is a vast subject covering many different methods and approaches here we are concerned with flour based sauces which when youve understood the rules and learned how to master them will give you a good grounding in the rest of saucemaking.

More power to your elbow
Im not sure if this old cliche came into being through the subject of sauce making or not but it does say something wise and that is this: when flour fat and liquid are combined and heated they always need extremely vigorous whisking. As I said in the chapter on pastry its the brain that gives out signals to the hands (or arms in this case) and commands either gentleness or forcefulness and with sauces its the latter so the more vigorously you whisk the better. With all flourbased sauces once you know this and put it into practice everything will be within your control because in the end its the whisk that controls. Learning in the first place begins with a decision: I will always do what Delia says and whisk like mad!

Lumps are a thing of the past
Flour based sauces it has to be admitted have suffered a bad press. I well remember a few years ago Anne Robinson on the BBCs Points Of View programme repeatedly showing a TV chef making a horrible lumpy white sauce in closeup. Yes it was funny because the chef at the time was saying how smooth and silky it was. Knowing the hazards of television cooking and the heat not always being right when the director says go I could sympathise. Its a shame in this case that he (the director) didnt think to look at the monitor. But making a sauce at home is nowhere near as hazardous as it is on television so lumps really are within your control.

In a classic white sauce and all other flour based sauces theres only one rule apart from determined whisking and that is the fat content: its the flour blended with the fat that ensures lump free results so never attempt to blend hot liquid and flour without the presence of fat as this is what causes lumps.

It is all quite straightforward a case of once you understand the rules lumps should never occur. But so what? If you do happen to slip up on the rules or get distracted then dont forget why sieves were invented.

Now lets first have a look at some of the rules. You need to remember the three ways to make a white sauce.

1 The roux method
Roux is the name given to the mixture of butter and flour that forms the basis of the classic white sauce called bcchamel. The butter is melted in the pan the flour is then stirred in to make a smooth thick paste and finally the liquid is added a little at a time with continual whisking. This is the only way to make a sauce if the liquid is hot because hot liquid can only be combined with flour if its first blended with fat so if you want to make a sauce with hot liquid ie fish poaching liquid hot vegetable stock or infused milk remember to use the roux method described here.

2 The all in one method
If you are using cold liquid you can simply place all the ingredients ie butter flour and liquid in a saucepan and whisk continuously and vigorously over the heat until the heat thickens the sauce. By the time the heat penetrates the butter will have been blended with the flour enough to prevent lumps and the finished sauce will be silky smooth and exactly the same as in the roux method above.

3 The fat free no lump flour method
Yes its true. For the first time in history we have an utterly new and quite phenomenal way of making a white sauce which has changed all the rules somewhat. Its with a flour called sauce flour which has been invented by an extremely clever flour miller who was watching me on television emphasising the absolutely essential presence of fat to avoid lumps. We need not get scientific here but what he did was work out what it was that made the sauce go lumpy and then develop a specific type of sauce flour that did not need the presence of fat and this thankfully is now available in supermarkets. After that he sent me some samples to test and the happy conclusion is that sure enough using the all in one method above with cold milk you can now make a white sauce without any butter at all. Of course there is some fat in the milk but theres still a vast difference in the total fat content which is wonderful news for those on a low fat diet.

Obviously the richness and flavour of butter is what makes a classic creamy white sauce the star it is but its good to have the choice of not adding butter on occasions and I think this is a huge step forward. You can now make a creamy silky smooth white sauce with skimmed or semi skimmed milk and flour with no butter. Amazing.

Whats the best saucepan?

A vexed question that has occupied me for years. The absolute truth is that a white sauce is probably the very best test of a saucepan. Why? Because what you want is a saucepan in which the sauce wont catch. If it does you will find that as you whisk little bits of scorched sauce will begin to appear. For years I have searched and searched and at long last Ive found what I can only describe as a little gem (aluminium milk pan). Since I first started cooking Ive always known that heavy gauge aluminium is the very best conductor of heat in cooking and now thankfully it has at last been declared safe.

It provides the perfect pan for making sauces and its not mega expensive. Not particularly glamorous to look at but lightyears ahead of anything else on performance.

How long should you cook a flour based sauce?

When you use flour in a sauce although it will thicken to a smooth creaminess very quickly it then has to be cooked. This is because the flour can at first taste a little raw. Therefore its important to remember that all sauces using flour must have 5 minutes cooking time over the gentlest possible heat except if youre going to continue to cook the sauce in the oven as in a lasagne for example which means you can cut this initial cooking to 2 or 3 minutes.

Can you make it ahead?

Yes you certainly can but a few things to remember first. When the sauce is made place some clingfilm directly over the surface to prevent a skin from forming then either keep it warm by placing it over a pan of barely simmering water or if you want to make it a long way ahead reheat it using the same method and dont remove the clingfilm until you are ready to serve. If you find it has thickened a little this is easy to rectify by adding a little more liquid milk stock or cream to bring it back to the right consistency.

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