BUILDING FLAVOR, BODY AND TEXTURE: PART 7
To use beurre manie to thicken, you pinch a small piece off, whip it into simmering liquid until it disappears, and keep repeating the process until the liquid reaches the consistency you want. Then you cook the thickened liquid a few minutes more until no raw flour taste remains. A day's supply of beurre manie may be made ahead, kept in the cooler, and used as needed.
Starch-and-water thickeners
The starch-and-water thickeners are simpler to understand and use than the starch and fat thickeners. You mix equal parts by volume of starch and cold water, stir until the starch is evenly dispersed, blend this mixture into a hot liquid, and bring it to a boil. When the liquid boils, the thickening is complete, though it may need further cooking to get rid of the taste of starch. You can adjust the texture by adding more starch mixture for a thicker product or more liquid to thin it down. Cornstarch, arrowroot, and many name-brand combination-starch products are among the available thickeners that can be used in this way.
Flour is another starch that can be dispersed in water and used to thicken, but it must be cooked longer than the other starch mixtures to get rid of its raw taste. The flourwater mixture is called slurry or, sometimes, a whitewash. It is not a good substitute for roux for general use. Use it only in an emergency.
The liaison
Another product commonly referred to, as a thickening agent is the liaison (lee-ay-zon). A liaison is a combination of egg yolks and cream used to give a velvety texture to soups and sauces. Although a liaison does tend to thicken, this is not its real purpose, and its thickening power is slight. It would take a ridiculous number of eggs to provide the same thickening power as a pound of roux. The real purpose of a liaison is to refine and smooth the texture of a thickened liquid by binding. It is added to liquids that have already been thickened by something else.
A liaison is made by blending together egg yolks and cream in a ratio of 2 parts cream to 1 part egg yolk by volume. First you add up to a third of the hot liquid to the liaison little by little, blending it in vigorously with a whip. This is known as tempering. Its purpose is to raise the temperature of the liaison (especially the egg) closer to the temperature of the hot liquid. If this were not done, the hot liquid would cause the egg yolk to coagulate, spoiling everything. The second step is to add the liaison mixture to the remainder of the hot liquid.
Latest Articles