Don’t Ruin Your Roux

Published on Thursday, September 10, 2009, by CHOW Video Team / Edit Post

Don’t Ruin Your Roux

Poppy Tooker, author of the Crescent City Farmers Market Cookbook, says that when you’re making a dark Louisiana roux, it’s crucial that you add the seasoning vegetables in the right order or else you’ll end up lightening the roux and diminishing the flavor. First add your onions so they release their juices and caramelize, then add the celery and bell pepper.

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  • The reason that you add the vegetables to the roux is to hydrate the roux. It's a trick that you use in order to not break the roux. Add onions only or all three..by the time the vegetables start releasing water, the water is warm and hydrates the rouxm slowly.

    If you want any sort of carmelization flavor in your roux, do it in the stock pot. Cause it aint happening in the roux!

  • I rue the day that i ruin a roux.


    Seriously though, this is a bunch of baloney. Yes vegetables release water. Guess what though? If you cook them long enough the water will evaporate! So, if you want your mirepoix to be caramelized as a part of your flavour base, cook them longer! This applies whether your using a roux or not. Now get to work.

  • onions don't have lots of water in them?

  • Monkey--This is the proper technique to adding any vegetables you want to get flavour and colour to. Whether it is onions, celery and carrots, or onion celery and bell peppers you want to add the onions first. The reason being that the other items release water which prevents the onions from browning properly. It sort of steams. This is the same concept as to why you don't salt your vegetables...+READ

    Monkey--This is the proper technique to adding any vegetables you want to get flavour and colour to. Whether it is onions, celery and carrots, or onion celery and bell peppers you want to add the onions first. The reason being that the other items release water which prevents the onions from browning properly. It sort of steams. This is the same concept as to why you don't salt your vegetables until they are browned, the salt draws out the moisture and cause a steam effect.-COLLAPSE

  • Hm. I'll give this a try, but it sounds like urban legend to me. How exactly is the carmelization affected by the inclusion of the celery and bell pepper, versus adding them later? I wager whatever flavor profile that would be changed is minimal compared to the difference between a properly cooked black roux versus the usual red roux that most people use for their gumbo.