Green Sauce Green sauce is the name of several different sauces containing mainly herbs, namely the Italian salsa verde, the French sauce verte, the Spanish salsa verde and the German Grüne Soße or Frankfurter Grie Soß . Mexican salsa verde is based on tomatillos.
Italian salsa verde:The Italian salsa verde is a
cold rustic sauce, and includes parsley, vinegar, capers, garlic, onion, anchovies, olive oil, and possibly mustard. Traditionally, ingredients were coarsely chopped by hand but now it is frequently blended into a coarse sauce using a food processor. In some regions, cubed bread is soaked in vinegar and blended with the other ingredients, which creates an emulsion somewhat similar to a vinaigrette. In other regions, there is no bread. Salsa verde is used as a condiment or dipping sauce for meats, fish, poultry, or vegetables. Salsa verde is traditionally served as an accompaniment to bollito misto or grilled or stewed fish.
One well-known salsa verde is gremolata, the usual accompaniment to ossobuco alla milanese.
Mexican salsa verde:
Green sauces are common in Mexican cuisine. The basis of the green sauce is typically pureed cooked or raw tomatillos, with jalapeños or other chili peppers, white onion, cilantro, and sometimes lime added to taste. Salsa verde can range in spiciness from mild to mouth-searing. It may be warm, as in a chile verde, or cold, as a condiment. In Mexican cuisine, a green sauce is frequently used as a dip for tortilla chips and served with tacos, grilled pork, grilled meats and even fish.
German Grüne Soße:
Grüne Soße or Grüne Sosse is a specialty of the German state of Hesse. Centres of popularity are the cities of Frankfurt am Main and Kassel, which lay claim to its origins. The Frankfurt-style is made from hard-boiled eggs, oil, vinegar, salt, sour cream, and generous amounts of seven fresh herbs, namely borage, sorrel, garden cress, chervil, chives, parsley, and salad burnet. Variants, often due to seasonal availability, include dill, shallots, lovage, lemon balm, and even spinach. In more frugal times, daisy leaves, broad plantain leaves, and dandelion leaves were also used.
While both Grüne Soße and mayonnaise have an egg base, there are major differences. In Grüne Soße, the eggs are hard-boiled, then sieved or pureed before being mixed with sour cream to form the creamy base of the sauce. The fresh chopped herbs are then added. Some variations use buttermilk, quark, or yogurt instead of sour cream. In the city of Kassel, a combination of sour cream and Schmand is used.
The sauce is served cold with peeled boiled potatoes as an accompaniment to either hard-boiled eggs or roast beef brisket. It may also be served with cooked fish or roast beef, or as a side dish to barbecue. A local schnitzel specialty, called Frankfurter Schnitzel, is always served with green sauce, along with apple cider as a traditional accompanying drink. Green sauce was supposedly Goethe's favourite condiment; a legend that his mother invented it is likely apocryphal.
Recipe for Green Sauce Link 1 Link 2 Link 3
