2006-10-23 10:01:30 · 7 answers · asked by Ashley H 2 in Food & Drink ➔ Cooking & Recipes
The joke is that all Cajun bedtimes stories start with "First you make a roux..." A roux (pronounced roo) is a mixture of flour and oil cooked over medium heat. In Cajun or creole cooking a roux is cooked over a for 15-30 minutes until it is very brown. You have to keep stirring it and watching it carefully - it can go from chocolate brown to burned black in an instant. Use a very heavy (cast iron is best) pot or frying pan to avoid burning. Also be very careful not to splash any on yourself - Paul Prudhomme calls it Cajun napalm!
Cajuns tend to make their roux from vegetable oil and flour, while old Creole recipes call for butter and flour. A roux of vegetable oil and flour is easier to deal with than one of butter - the butter is much more likely to burn than the oil. The darker the roux is the less its thickening power. If the roux is used for seasoning (that dark taste can't be duplicated any other way) you generally start with an equal amount of flour and oil. If you need the roux to thicken the dish you use twice as much flour as oil.
After the roux is cooked you generally stir in spices and "holy trinity" - chopped onion, celery and bell pepper and the recipe goes on from there.
Good luck cooking!
2006-10-23 14:29:24 · answer #1 · answered by earth_angelus 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Roux (ROO) is a French term for a mixture of flour and fat, such as cooking oil or butter, that is cooked, then used for thickening soups, sauces, gravies, and gumbos. A roux can be cooked to several stages, depending on the color and flavor you want to achieve.
If cooked for only a couple of minutes, the roux mixture won't change color, making it perfect for thickening white, delicately flavored sauces.
Heating a roux for a few minutes more gives it a golden color and a little more flavor. This is sometimes referred to as a blond roux.
A brown or caramel-color roux takes 20 to 30 minutes of cooking and stirring to achieve its deep brown color (similar to the color of a penny). This type of roux, with its rich, nutty flavor and aroma, is a perfect match for the strong flavors of gumbo. Roux will keep, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for 2 weeks or in the freezer for 6 months.
It is made by mixing together equal parts of flour and butter and cooking over a low heat
2006-10-23 17:10:39 · answer #2 · answered by pooterosa 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If I am understanding the question right, it is a butter and flour base, that is used to make a sauce/gravy....melted butter, flour added at a med.low heat to sort of cook the butter a bit so not to taste pastey, and then milk is added to make a soup base, but I am not from that area so I may be wrong...but I think it is the basic ingredients for making just about any gravy/sauce, that goes over pasta, bread, eggs, you name it..Shrimp......etc...like a white sauce...
2006-10-23 17:07:08 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Do you mean Roux ? Pronounced Rue.
It is the base for sauce. Usually a mixture of flour and fat.
Flour and butter also works, and spices can be added to make the sauce.
Did this help.
2006-10-23 17:10:41 · answer #4 · answered by festus_porkchop 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
You heat a pan with oil in it and then sprinkle flour in the grease and fry the flour stirring frequently when the flour is brown almost black you then put it in your gumbo sparks should fly when you drop the flour in your gumbo
2006-10-23 17:07:17 · answer #5 · answered by mmmkay_us 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I think what you are looking for is roux (roo). It is a gravy Made from grease and flour. Basically burning it until you get the color you desire. Lighter for etouffee and darker for stews.
2006-10-23 17:05:47 · answer #6 · answered by ontherocks 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
It is the base, basically butter(fat) and flour. Used mainly to start a gravy or thick sauce.
2006-10-23 17:05:39 · answer #7 · answered by BlueSea 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋