Hacker News Reader

I'm honestly flabbergasted that Mornay sauce isn't more popular, given that it can be stored in the fridge for up to a week: it's the only reliable way to (consistently) achieve perfectly browned cheese on bread. I put a thin layer on toast, broil it for 2min, and then top it with caviar and watercress. Great way to get Omega-3s in the morning.

View on HN

Many (most?) mac and cheese recipes involve making a mornay sauce, but they rarely call it that. The slightly more informed recipes will actually call it a béchamel sauce and then have you add cheese.

I really hate that when I'm reading a recipe, if it just said "make a mornay sauce with 4 oz cheddar and 4 oz gruyere" you'd cut out 3 steps from the recipe. It's loop unrolling for recipes.

Unfortunately, recipes tend to be made for people who don't know how to cook, or are unfamiliar with the terms and techniques of the cuisine.

There are plenty of recipes that are made for people that do know the basics, or where the basics are literally factored out separately in the same cookbook. The latter is more common in large cookbooks with fairly deep coverage, the former in ones targetting a more specialized, experienced audience.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com