Cooking In European cooking, a mixture of butter and flour called a roux is used to thicken liquids to make stews or sauces. In Asian cooking, a similar effect is obtained from a mixture of rice or corn starch and water. These techniques rely on the properties of starches to create simpler mucilaginous saccharides during cooking, which causes the familiar thickening of sauces. This thickening will break down, however, under additional heat. Types of fat include vegetable oils, animal products such as butter and lard, as well as fats from grains, including corn and flax oils. Fats are used in a
Wheat flour (usually a pin mill). These finer bran and germ fractions are then reintroduced to the endosperm ("white flour") to produce whole wheat flour made of 100% of the kernel of wheat. Wheat flour is available in many varieties; the categorization is regional, and the same name may have several different regional meanings. Indian flours are generally categorized by how much of the grain is stripped away. American flours are categorized by gluten/protein content, processing, and use. A device called Alveograph Chopin invented in 1921 by Marcel Chopin, provides an index called W that is now commonly used by professional bakers.