Making a roux
A roux is a slow-cooked mixture of flour and fat that’s used to thicken and flavour a soup, stew, or sauce. It is the foundation of many Cajun dishes that we teach at Wickedfood Cooking School Cajun cooking classes, including gumbo and étouffée. Depending on how long you cook it, a roux can be light brown and faintly nutty in taste to dark chocolate brown with an intense, almost chicory-like flavour.
Many cooks have a certain pot and a certain wooden spoon to make their roux. Fat and flour are very meager ingredients, but if you take the time to nurture them and understand what you’re doing, then you’re creating something truly incredible.
Chicken, duck, and pork fat all give good flavour, or you can use canola oil as it has a high smoke point and is neutral in flavour.
To make a roux:
- Heat fat or oil in a pot over high heat until it almost reaches the smoking point.
- Add just enough flour to absorb the fat. When you hear the flour sizzling, whisk it. Then lower the heat to medium or medium-low and continue whisking. As long as you’re whisking, your roux isn’t burning. Keep whisking until you’ve got a roux that’s milk chocolate in colour.
- Then add your onions. and start stirring with a wooden spoon until the onions caramelize and the roux turns a dark chocolate colour.
- Stir in your other ingredients.
Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za
Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. Classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.
Our classes are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and teambuilding cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.