Flour and butter make roux…a thickener, a flavor-giver, or a dessert ingredient - recipes

Sunset, March, 1986

Flour and fat, cooked together, then used to smoothly thicken sauces, make what's known as roux in French cooking. But this bland mixture has flavor potential, too, when you treat it the way Cajun and persian cooks do.

When you cook the flour-fat mixture past the usual pale gold stage, its color deepens as the flour toasts, changing to caramel, to brown, and then to a rich red-brown before scorching. As the color intensifies, so does the toasted flavor; conversely, the mixture's thickening power decreases.

Cajuns call red-brown roux "black roux" and use it in large amounts for flavor but surprisingly little thickening. They season a roux of salad oil and flour with vegetables and use it as a base for gumbos and other dishes, balancing the dark-toasted taste with lively seasonings. Here it goes into a pepper and chili gumbo with shrimp and fish, a sausage stew (etoufee), and a sweet-sour sauce.

Persians make black roux with butter and sweeten it with a rose-scented syrup to make a form of tahalvah that tastes much like sweetened chestnut puree; the tahalvah is the base of several desserts. Roseflower water, made from rose petals--primarily to flavor beverages--is available is powdered saffron or the less expensive saffron threads.

Making roux takes about 20 minutes' attention and calls for some caution. Use a long-handled spoon (wooden or with insulated handle) and have ready a mitten-style potholder for protection if the mixture begins to spatter, particularly when adding vegetables or syrup. As one safety measure, we heat the flat with the flour; Cajun cooks typically dump the flour into very hot oil.

Black Roux 1 cup salad oil or melted butter or margarine 1 cup all-purpose flour 3/4 cup finely chopped onion 3/4 cup finely chopped green bell pepper 1/3 cup finely chopped celery

In a 10- to 12-inch frying pan, mix oil and flour until smoothly blended. Place over medium-high heat and stir constantly with a long-handled spoon (Wooden or with heat-resistant handle) until mixture is a drak brown to red-brown color and smells darkly toasted, about 15 minutes (if it begins to smell burned, remove the pan at once from heat, let cool, then discard roux).

All at once add onion, bell peppr, and celery to the hot roux; remove pan from heat. Stir until roux no longer bubbles, 2 to 3 minutes. Use black roux at once, or let cool, cover, and refrigerate 3 to 4 days. To store longer, freeze in 1 tablespoon-size portions, slightly apart, on a pan lined with waxed paper. Whe roux is hard, transfer to a plastic bag and freeze up to 6 months. To use, remove the amount of roux needed and let it thaw slightly before heating. Makes 2 cups.

Roasted Pepper and Chili Gumbo 1 large head garlic 3 fresh Anaheim (California) chillies or 1 large green bell pepper 2 sweet yellow wax peppers, 5 to 6 inches long, or 1 large yellow or red bell pepper 2 large red or yellow bell peppers, or 1 of each 1 tablespoon chopped garlic (about 4 cloves) 1/2 fresh serrano or jalapeno chili, seeded, stemmed, and chopped 1 tablespoon salad oil 3/4 to 1 cup black roux (recipe on page 238) 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1/2 teaspoon chili powder 1/4 teaspoon ground mace or ground nutmeg 1/8 teaspoon cayenne 1 quart regular-strength chicken broth 3/4 pound medium-size shrimp (32 to 34 per lb.), shelled and deveined 3/4 pound boned and skinned white fish such as sea bass, shark, or sole, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Wrap garlic head in foil. Arrange garlic packet, Anaheim chilies, wax peppers, and red bell peppers slightly apart in a 10-by 15-inch pan. (Cut large peppers in half, if necessary, to make all vegetables about the same height; place them cut side down.) Broil 2 inches from the heat, turning chilies and peppers as needed until skins bubble or char on all sides, 15 to 30 minutes. Turn head of garlic several times to cook evenly.

Transfer charred chilies and peppers to a plastic or paper bag; close bag and let vegetables cool.

If garlic is still firm when chilies are done, turn oven to 400 [deg.] and brake garlic until it feels soft when passed. Let garlic stand until cool to touch, then unwrap and set aside. If made ahead, let stand at toom temperature as long as overnight.

Pull off and discard stems, skin, and seeds of broiled chilies and peppers. Cut vegetables in 1/4-inch-wide strips and set aside.

In a 5- to 6-quart pan over medium heat, stir chopped garlic and chopped serrano chili in oil until soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 3/4 cup roux and stir until hot and smooth. Add black pepper, chili powder, mace, cayenne, and chicken broth. (At this point, roasted chilies and broth can be cooled, covered, and refrigerated as long as overnight.)

Bring broth mixture to boiling over high heat; if you want it to be a little thicker, mix in the remaining roux. Add to the pan the broiled chilies and peppers, shrimp, and fish. Reduce heat and simmer until shrimp and fish are just opaque in the center (cut to test), about 2 minutes.

Ladle hot soup into a wide serving bowl and garnish with baked head of roasted garlic. Pull garlic apart and add cloves to individual servings to press from skin (use a spoon or your fingers). Makes 7 to 8 cups, 4 to 6 entree savings.