White sauce—or bechamel, if you use its French name—is one of the five mother sauces taught in culinary schools. Its simplicity makes it a blank canvas for creativity; once you’ve mastered it, you can ...

The new mother sauces, clockwise from top left, are herb salsa, pepper salsa, yogurt sauce, pesto and tahini, in New York, July 25, 2016. To improve your cooking, learn how to make and use several ...