béchamel

[ bey-shuh-mel; French bey-sha-mel ]

noun

1. a white sauce, sometimes seasoned with onion and nutmeg.

Word History and Origins

Origin of béchamel¹

First recorded in 1790–1800; named after Louis, Marquis de Béchamel (steward of Louis XIV of France), its originator

Example Sentences

Other new menu items include Starbuck’s Gingerbread Cream Cold Foam, a blend of gingerbread flavors with vanilla sweet cream; Turkey Sage Danish, a savory pastry filled with turkey sausage and bechamel sauce; Dark Toffee Bundt, a personal-sized, toffee-flavored Bundt cake; Penguin Cookie, a shortbread cookie iced with a penguin design; and Snowman Cake Pop, a vanilla-flavored cake mixed with buttercream and dipped in a white chocolate icing.

From Salon

Once the pasta is cooked, it is combined with the raw vegetables and a lighter-than-average Mornay sauce, which is a cheesy béchamel.

From Seattle Times

From the the choice of macaroni to changes to the bechamel; from switching up the the cheeses to adding breadcrumbs; from broiling until the top is nearly burnt to adding varying mix-ins or different ideas.

From Salon

“So on our table, you would have turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry dressing, rolled grape leaves, meat pie, cheese pie, macaroni bechamel,” he said.

From Salon

Of course Campbell’s wasn’t the first to invent cream of mushroom soup; food historians speculate that its creation was a natural extension of French béchamel, a velvety sauce made by whisking milk into a roux until the mixture thickens and becomes smooth.

From Salon