Bechamel

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A rich, smooth sauce commonly used in French cooking is fashioned from a mix of butter, flour, and milk, serving as a foundation for numerous dishes and enhancing overall taste
2. In culinary contexts, it refers to a velvety white sauce created by combining flour and butter with milk, often incorporated into dishes to add a creamy dimension
3. A creamy white sauce, made from butter, flour, and milk, is foundational in French cuisine and is frequently used to elevate the flavor of various recipes

Etymology: In English this white sauce goes by the French name, borrowed whole into the language. Its French form carries an accent over the first e, and English writers often drop it, which is why the word appears in both spellings. Dictionaries record the accented version as the standard form, with the unaccented spelling as a variant. The name itself is simply French, so the sauce's English name is a loan rather than a translation. Cooks who write it in English usually keep the French form, even when the rest of a recipe is in English.