Comments on: You say Béchamel, I say Balsamella

By: Bert

Bert — Sun, 06 Aug 2017 22:22:48 +0000

Do you morons posting understand this is the Italian version, not the French? I can’t stand the French version with nutmeg and clove, wish I’d never tasted it. Pure crap and those 2 flavors ruin an excellent lasagna.

By: Maitreya

Maitreya — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 12:35:37 +0000

Bit of nitpicking, perhaps, but the standard Italian name for the sauce is besciamella and a quick google search will illustrate it’s by far the most commonly used name in Italian (644 000 Italian websites returned for “besciamella”, 3 750 for “balsamella”).

By: sharon powell

sharon powell — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 18:24:05 +0000

Wonderful site! all my questions regarding the Italian sauce were answered…and plan on using the recipe immediately in a lasagne recipe, Duchy Al Ferrar from a local Italian bistro.

By: Ricette Classiche: Lasagne Verdi al Forno | BELLAVITÆ

Ricette Classiche: Lasagne Verdi al Forno | BELLAVITÆ — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 03:25:40 +0000

[…] 1 recipe salsa balsamella, made to the consistency of sour cream (see You say Béchamel, I say Balsamella) […]

By: Dre

Dre — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 19:30:55 +0000

As for the skin, better to take the sauce off the heat and press some plastic wrap down onto the surface until you need it so you never get a skin in the first place. You can also do what the French call “tamponner” which is to put some small pieces of butter on the top of a sauce and when it melts it covers the sauce the same way plastic wrap does, although I find that often makes a sauce a bit greasy.

By: Dre

Dre — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 19:28:42 +0000

Again, being picky (see the comment on the French previously) a classic Bechamel also includes a bit of nutmeg. Same concept (using a blonde roux) with stock instead of milk (minus the nutmeg) is called a Veloute and is the base for a number of sauces used with poultry and fish. The French are big on building onto their sauces, therefore if you add cream and mushrooms to a Veloute you get Sauce Supreme.

By: Dre

Dre — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 19:15:46 +0000

For Bechamel to be picky (and we all know the French are) they would use white pepper so you don’t have flecks in the sauce.