Nantua sauce (French: ''sauce Nantua'' ) is a classical French

sauce In cooking, a sauce is a liquid, cream, or semi- solid food, served on or used in preparing other foods. Most sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavour, texture, and visual appeal to a dish. ''Sauce'' is a French wor ...

consisting of a

béchamel sauce Béchamel sauce or Biratta cream (, ) is one of the mother sauces of French cuisine, made from a white roux (butter and flour) and milk, seasoned with ground nutmeg. Origin The first recipe of a sauce similar to béchamel is in the book by ...

base,

cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...

, and

crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. Taxonomically, they are members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea. They breathe through feather-like gills. Some spe ...

butter, along with crayfish tails. It is named for the town of

Nantua Nantua (; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Nantuat'') is a Communes of France, commune in and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Ain Departments of France, département in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Easter ...

, which is known for its crayfish, and the term ''à la Nantua'' is used in classical

French cuisine French cuisine is the cooking traditions and practices of France. In the 14th century, Guillaume Tirel, a Court (royal), court chef known as "Taillevent", wrote ''Le Viandier'', one of the earliest recipe collections of medieval France. In ...

for dishes containing crayfish. Sauce Nantua is the classic accompaniment to '' quenelles de brochet'' (pike dumplings), making ''quenelles Nantua''.Shirley King, translator, ''Pampille's Table: Recipes and Writings from the French Countryside from Marthe Daudet's ''Les Bons Plats de France'' 934', 1996, , p. 153

References

French sauces Cuisine of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Crayfish dishes Cuisine of Lyon {{condiment-stub