How To Make A Roux

When making a roux for etouffee, you want your roux to be dark, but not very dark. If you're making gumbo, you want a darker roux. And it's easier to get a dark roux using oil such as peanut or canola oil; butter burns on high heat, so a very dark roux requires constant stirring on low heat for near an hour. For etouffee, we don't want it that dark. We want to cook it until we get a nice, nutty smell, and a burnt orange color.

The first time one makes a roux, the beautiful, nutty aroma that emanates from it is very surprising. One doesn't expect butter and flour to give off such a pleasant earthy scent, but it does--and if you're lucky, the smell lingers for hours after you make it. You'll know the range of darkness acceptable for a roux for etouffee by this nutty smell. When it starts smelling nutty, it's passable. You probably want it darker than just passable, but you could be done with it at this point. On the other side of the spectrum, when it's too dark, it starts smelling like the familiar carbon smell of burned anything. Burned toast, etc. You want your roux somewhere in the middle.

The basic proportions of flour to butter are 1:1, but you can add more fat if you want. When making a nice pot of etouffee, I start with 1 stick of salted butter (8 tbsp), and half a cup of all-purpose flour (8 tbsp). You put the heat on low or medium-low, or, if you're very diligent with your stirring, medium. Add the butter, and wait for it to melt almost completely. Then add the flour. Stir.

I like to make my roux in a flat-bottomed polished pan, and stir using a flat metal spatula. This ensures that I don't leave anything stuck to the bottom of the pan to burn. Traditionally, I suppose you'd use a cast-iron pot and a wooden spoon, but hey, we've got to progress some time. Whisking also works reasonably well.

Stir the roux constantly. And I do mean constantly. For a while it will bubble a lot, and then as it cooks, it will smooth out. Just keep stirring. At first it will seem like nothing is happening. But after ten minutes or so, you'll start to notice that it's darkening a bit, turning to a deeper yellow. Then after fifteen it'll start to get a slight orange tinge. After twenty minutes, you'll see what I'm talking about with the nutty smell. And by thirty, it'll be a nice dark umber, and (especially if you're living on the edge with the stove on medium heat) you'll start to worrying that it's going to burn soon. That's about the time you want to take it off. It will continue to cook a bit in the hot pan even away from the stove, but you've got your roux--a dark orange, smooth mixture, with an earthy smell. It should roughly follow the progression pictured below.