RECIPE – Frankfurt Green Sauce (Grüne Soße)

I was in Germany recently and tried the usual foods (Schweinshaxn, schnitzel, pretzel, etc)

There were a fair few things that I enjoyed that I haven’t really found outside of germany (currywurst anyone?) and a few things I’ve never heard of.

One of which was this suspicious green sauce also known as Gruene sosse

It’s not big outside of Frankfurt and I think they’re even trying to apply for designated origin thingo for it.

Basically, it’s a healthy, tangy sauce packed with herbs that goes fantabulously with boiled eggs, potatoes, frankfurts (of course) and other meat – actually, I think it could go with almost anything savoury.

I was first introduced to the famed Frankfurt Green Sauce by a Frankfurter native. She taught me how to cook this dish – it is traditionally done with 7 herbs (parsley, chives, cress, chives, borage, dill, sorrel, chervil) but not all the herbs were in season or available where I’m located. In Frankfurt, if you go to the market, you can buy it already bunched into your 7 herbs.

So here’s my improvised version of Frankfurt green sauce.

Ingredients:

• Parsley
• Chives
• Basil
• Spinach
• Dill
• Watercress
• 1/8 bunch of celery leaves (I don’t like celery)
• Spring onion
• 1x clove minced garlic (or to pref)
• 2 hard boiled eggs
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 150g Sour cream (or to pref)
• 100g Creme fraiche or thickened cream (or to pref)
• 150g Greek yoghurt (or to pref)
• Some lemon juice
• 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard (or to pref)
• Salt & pepper to season

You want roughly equivalent amounts of each herb (I was using celery leaves as a substitute for another herb but I find the taste is quite strong so I’ve used much less than equivalent). The rest of the ingredients are really to your preference. Taste as you go.

Method:

This is a really simple recipe.

1. Finely dice all your herbs & put them in a large bowl
2. In a separate bowl, fork your hard boiled eggs mashing them up & whisk in olive oil
3. Add 80% of the rest of the ingredients (as you will add more to taste) and whisk it in
4. Mix it into the herbs
5. Taste it, does it require more sour cream/yoghurt/mustard/etc? Then you’re done.

See how I turn this green sauce into a fab Halloween dish – post to come shortly.