My sister Laura set me up with this cream sauce. I was so young and not even ready to yield its power, but I listened.

2-tbls butter,
2-tbls flour,
a nub of celery,
a cup of milk
Salt and pepper to yum-ness

And after my first batch, I cream sauced damn near everything. Tuna casserole, Mac-n-Cheese, Gorgonzola hoo-ha there was nothing I wouldn’t pop in a cream sauce. She did this little celery number. She said it gave it a little something ( or whatever babyboomers use for “pop” or “snap” or “x” ). I learned later that she taught me a Béchamel sauce to which forever after made me hum “Béchamel, Béchamel mucho” to the tune of a classic Mexican Mariachi request.

For this cream sauce, I added parsley and the much forgotten herb, Tarragon. Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, all equally loved. But poor Tarragon, the Carreras of the herb world, sits in the wings waiting for that blessed “broken leg.” So Fukui-San, what am I making?

And with this I leave you a tune to hum when you stir your cream sauce: Béchamel Mucho-