Which sauce base acts as a thicker and is made of equal parts cooked flour and fat?

• A. Roux
• B. Beurre manié
• C. Slurry
• D. Beurre noisette

Answer: (A)

This describes roux. A roux is made by cooking flour in fat, typically in equal parts by weight, to create a smooth, cohesive thickener for sauces. Cooking the flour in fat to this stage removes the raw flour taste and allows the starch to swell evenly as the sauce thickens, giving a stable body to sauces like béchamel or velouté.

Other options don’t fit this specific description. Beurre manié is a paste of raw flour mixed with butter that’s added to a hot sauce to thicken near the end, so the flour isn’t cooked into the fat first. A slurry mixes starch (often cornstarch) with cold water or other liquid, with no fat involved. Beurre noisette is browned butter, which adds flavor but isn’t a flour-based thickener.