Talk:Roux

Pictures

Pictures to illustrate the colour of each type of roux would be quite helpful, especially when terms like "blonde" "brick" and "chocolate" are slightly less than self-explanatory. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.20.18.122 (talk) 19:32, 13 March 2008 (UTC)

cold roux?

I don't see it here, but many times I've heard references to mixtures of water and cornstarch, added to a boiling liquid to thicken it, called "cold roux," to distinguish it from the "hot roux" the article describes. If this is a misnomer--and it may be, I claim no encyclopedic knowledge--it would be appropriate for the article to state this. Alternately, if the terminology is regarded as valid, a section for "cold roux" could be added. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.148.105.4 (talk) 17:01, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

• read the section which discusses "cowboy roux" and "white wash" in the article, sounds like cold roux is another synonym.— Preceding unsigned comment added by Mrbentley (talk • contribs) 04:32, 2011 July 18 (UTC)

Roux in Louisiana - CREOLE - not Cajun.

Roux is Creole; not Cajun. The Acadiens adapted Creole techniques to their country cooking. Creole roux tends to be lighter in color (the color of peanut butter) and have a more delicate flavor. The cajun version is much darker. It's important to understand that our food is Creole, first - everything else came later. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mrbentley (talk • contribs) 04:32, 18 July 2011 (UTC)

@Mrbentley:, you are correct. Added two reliable sources to Further reading that I'll try to incorporate into article as inline citations. -- Paulscrawl (talk) 08:48, 28 October 2015 (UTC)

Clarified Butter vs. Butter

I know from 1) personal/professional experience and 2) a decided lack of references supporting the claim that: clarified butter is traditionally used to make a roux. Drawn butter isn't even used. You melt the whole butter in a pan and add the flour, then you cook it. There's no separate step to treat the butter before cooking. I removed this somewhat crucial mistake in the article. Doc talk 10:43, 23 November 2011 (UTC)

Yes. Clarified or drawn butter are nearly unknown in Europe and in my 40 years in France, BeNeLux and Germany, I have never seen anyone make, use or buy it. You can’t buy it in any normal supermarket. We just use bog-standard (fresh cow milk) butter and bog-standard (white wheat) flour. I don’t see the point in using clarified butter either. Roux never gets heated to a level that would require that. — 89.1.166.169 (talk) 09:31, 16 November 2017 (UTC)

I agree completely. I have never seen someone use clarified butter to make a roux, and there are no sources cited to support the idea. I have changed "Clarified butter" to "Butter" in the lead of the article. Ikjbagl (talk) 00:18, 15 October 2018 (UTC)

Italics or not?

Can't tell from the article which is correct - is this an English word (no itals) or from another language (itals)? And keep in mind that many foreign words become normal English words over time... Huw Powell (talk) 19:10, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

It's definitely a French word. It was adopted into English directly from that, and I removed the italics that were around it, which were introduced with this edit. I may get reverted, but I don't believe the word should be italicized either. Doc talk 12:03, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

It's a French loanword, but it's been part of both British and American English for well over a century. --Ef80 (talk) 16:37, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Yet, it isn't in my Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. I agree it ought to be! Franciscus montmartinensis (talk) 16:19, 21 May 2022 (UTC)

Chemistry section missing …

I would appreciate a section on the chemistry of roux. What reactions happen, to create it? What reactions cause it to decompose again? What role does the fat play? (Over just heating flour and stirring in water.) — 89.1.166.169 (talk) 09:35, 16 November 2017 (UTC)