Culinary Terms Test: Roux, Slurry, and Beurre Manié

📚 Quick Study Guide

• 🌾 Roux: A cooked mixture of equal parts flour and fat (usually butter). It's used to thicken sauces, soups, and stews. Cooking the roux develops flavor and affects its thickening power.
• 🔥 Types of Roux:
  • ⚪ White Roux: Cooked briefly, pale in color, and has the most thickening power.
  • 🔶 Blond Roux: Cooked longer than white roux, has a slightly nutty flavor.
  • 🤎 Brown Roux: Cooked until brown, has a rich, nutty flavor, but less thickening power. Used in gumbo and other Cajun dishes.
• 💧 Slurry: A mixture of starch (usually cornstarch or flour) and cold liquid (usually water or stock). It's used as a quick thickening agent.
• 🧊 Important: Always mix the starch with cold liquid to prevent lumps. Add the slurry to the hot liquid you want to thicken while stirring constantly.
• 🧈 Beurre Manié: A mixture of equal parts softened butter and flour, kneaded together. It's used to thicken sauces at the end of cooking.
• ✨ Important: Whisk the beurre manié into the simmering sauce until it's fully incorporated and the sauce has thickened. Don't add too much at once.

🍳 Practice Quiz

1. Which thickening agent is made from equal parts flour and fat that are cooked together?
   1. Roux
   2. Slurry
   3. Beurre Manié
   4. Cornstarch
2. What is the key to preventing lumps when using a slurry?
   1. Using hot liquid
   2. Using cold liquid
   3. Adding more starch
   4. Adding more fat
3. Which type of roux has the least thickening power?
   1. White Roux
   2. Blond Roux
   3. Brown Roux
   4. Dark Roux
4. Beurre Manié is added to a sauce...
   1. At the beginning of cooking
   2. During the cooking process
   3. At the end of cooking
   4. Before bringing to a simmer
5. Which of these is NOT typically used to make a slurry?
   1. Cornstarch
   2. Flour
   3. Arrowroot
   4. Butter
6. What happens when a roux is cooked longer?
   1. It increases in thickening power.
   2. It decreases in thickening power.
   3. It stays the same.
   4. It becomes sweeter.
7. What ratio of butter to flour is used in beurre manié?
   1. 2 parts butter to 1 part flour
   2. 1 part butter to 2 parts flour
   3. Equal parts butter and flour
   4. No butter is used