What does bechamel mean?
Bechamel is one of the foundational sauces of classical French cookery: a smooth, creamy white sauce made by slowly whisking milk into a roux of melted butter and flour, then seasoning it—often with salt, white pepper, and a grating of nutmeg. It serves both as a finished sauce and as a base from which other sauces are built, which is why it counts among the five so-called mother sauces codified by French chefs such as Auguste Escoffier. In everyday cooking it appears most famously layered into lasagne, poured over moussaka, or bound into croquettes and gratins. The name honors Louis de Bechamel, a seventeenth-century French courtier credited—perhaps apocryphally—with its creation. The word is frequently spelled "béchamel" on menus and in British texts, while American dictionaries favor the unaccented form. Though it may sound technical, the sauce itself is simple, forgiving, and a staple skill for home cooks.
nounA smooth white sauce made by whisking milk into a cooked roux of butter and flour, typically seasoned and used as a base for other sauces or in baked dishes such as lasagne.
- The classic white sauce of French cuisine, made by adding milk to a white roux of butter and flour, often seasoned with onion, bay leaf, or nutmeg; one of the five 'mother sauces' of classical cooking.
"She stirred a pinch of nutmeg into the bechamel before layering it over the pasta."
"Whisk the milk in gradually until you have a silky bechamel with no lumps."
"The moussaka's layers of aubergine were crowned with a thick, golden bechamel."
Rarely used; bechamel normally functions as an uncountable (mass) noun referring to the sauce in general.
"The cookbook contrasts several regional bechamels, each seasoned differently."
Legend says this humble white sauce was invented for—or even by—a French courtier so influential that the king's finance minister was jealous of him, and it has carried his name for over three centuries.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bechamel
The word comes from French béchamel sauce, named after Louis de Béchamelle (often given as Béchamel), marquis de Nointel, a seventeenth-century French court steward and financier at the court of Louis XIV who is traditionally credited with perfecting the sauce. The sauce itself descends from older European milk-and-thickener preparations such as Italian balsamella. The name entered English in the eighteenth century and has remained essentially unchanged since.
How bechamel is actually used
Often written with diacritics as "béchamel," especially on menus and in British usage, but the unaccented form is standard in American dictionaries. The word is a mass noun in most culinary contexts, though a plural is possible when referring to multiple batches or styles. It carries a slightly refined, continental register compared with the plainer term "white sauce."
Easily confused with bechamel
Hollandaise is an emulsion of egg yolks, butter, and lemon juice used warm over vegetables or eggs, whereas bechamel is a milk-based sauce thickened with a flour-and-butter roux.
Veloute is structurally identical to bechamel but is made with stock (chicken, fish, or veal) instead of milk.