That time a line cook told me to stop overthinking my roux

I remember this older guy named Dave who worked the grill station at a place I started at back in 2012. He caught me stirring a roux for gumbo for what felt like forever, trying to get it perfect. He just laughed and said 'kid, you're burning the color into it by fussing so much, just let it cook and move on.' I ignored him for months because I thought I knew better from culinary school. Then one night during a rush I had to rush through a roux and it turned out the best I'd ever made. Now I keep it simple, medium heat, constant gentle stir, pull it when it smells right not when it looks like a textbook. Has anyone else had a piece of advice from an old timer that went against everything you learned in school?

3 comments

3 Comments

stella_lane7d ago

I'm gonna push back a little on this whole "listen to the old timers" thing. Sure, Dave's tip worked for that one gumbo, but a roux is pretty forgiving compared to other stuff. I've seen plenty of old timers give bad advice too, like insisting you must have a certain pan or pot for everything. The fact that your rushed roux came out good doesn't mean the first way was wrong, it was maybe just overkill. You can oversimplify things just as easily as you can overthink them. Honestly, it sounds like you traded one rule (textbook perfection) for another rule (always rush it), which isn't really "freeing" yourself from advice, it's just swapping gurus.

richard_anderson7d ago

Ha! So basically the lesson is "the real guru was the lack of a guru we met along the way." Classic internet wisdom circle. Your point about swapping one rule for another is spot on though. I've seen it a thousand times where someone breaks free from one set of strict instructions just to latch onto the exact opposite strict instructions with the same level of devotion. Next thing you know they're telling people you HAVE to rush the roux and using a timer religiously for it. It's like trading a Bible for a different Bible and calling yourself an atheist.

joseph_ellis857d ago

Picked up the same lesson from an old short order cook named Frank. He told me the roux is done when you can smell the nuttiness, not when the color matches a color wheel. Now I close my eyes for the last minute of cooking, it sounds goofy but it trains your senses. The textbook colors are a starting point for rookies, once you get the hang of it your nose knows quicker than your eyes do.