Chef Klaus
Bratensoße (Dunkle Bratensauce)
A proper Bratensoße begins with the brown bits in the pan, not a packet: bones roasted dark, wine scraped clean, stock reduced until it coats the spoon.
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Dillsoße
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A pale German dill sauce lives or dies in the last minute: fresh dill off the boil, so the colour stays green and the flavour stays alive.
Sauces & Condiments
German
Weeknight
Easter
Comfort Food
10 min
Active Time
15 min cook•25 min total
Yield4 servings
Dillsoße sits strongest on the northern and eastern table, where fish, potatoes, cucumber, and dill know each other already. It belongs to spring when the first asparagus and new potatoes arrive, to Good Friday fish, and to a weeknight plate of boiled eggs or poached cod when you want a proper sauce without making a Sunday project of it.
Im Norden anders, im Süden anders. In Mecklenburg and the old Prussian kitchens, I make it light and sharp, stock first, a little vinegar or lemon, and enough dill to smell it before the plate lands. Farther south, the sauce often turns creamier and softer, sometimes served with boiled beef or vegetables, but dill is never the big southern herb the way parsley and chives are. Das ist kein Bierzelt. It is a quiet sauce, pale gold with green through it.
The technique is simple and unforgiving: cook the blond roux long enough to lose the raw flour taste, then loosen it slowly with warm stock. Cold liquid dumped in fast gives you lumps because the starch sets before it can spread. The dill goes in at the end, off the hard boil, because boiling fresh dill turns it dull and grassy. Erst verstehen, dann kochen.
Use good stock. Nicht aus dem Glas. Fish stock for fish, vegetable stock for asparagus, light chicken stock for eggs and potatoes. Weggeworfen wird nichts, the fish bones or vegetable trimmings make the liquid that makes the sauce.
Dill was already named as anethum in Charlemagne's Capitulare de villis, issued around 812, which ordered useful herbs for imperial estates and kitchen gardens. Its later strength in northern and eastern German cooking follows the fish, cucumber, and potato table: ingredients that needed sourness, herbs, and preservation more than expensive spice. The sauce itself belongs to the family of German Mehlschwitze, blond roux sauces, which let a small amount of fat and flour stretch stock into something fit for fish, eggs, and vegetables.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
unsalted butter
Quantity
40g
plain flour
Quantity
35g
light fish stock, vegetable stock, or chicken stock
Quantity
500ml
warm
whole milk or light cream
Quantity
100ml
Dijon or German medium mustard
Quantity
1 teaspoon
white wine vinegar or lemon juice
Quantity
1 tablespoon
plus more to taste
sugar
Quantity
1 small pinch
fresh dill
Quantity
1 large bunch
finely chopped
fine salt
Quantity
to taste
white pepper or black pepper
Quantity
to taste
freshly ground
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| unsalted butter | 40g |
| plain flour | 35g |
| light fish stock, vegetable stock, or chicken stockwarm | 500ml |
| whole milk or light cream | 100ml |
| Dijon or German medium mustard | 1 teaspoon |
| white wine vinegar or lemon juiceplus more to taste | 1 tablespoon |
| sugar | 1 small pinch |
| fresh dillfinely chopped | 1 large bunch |
| fine salt | to taste |
| white pepper or black pepperfreshly ground | to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •Small heavy saucepan
- •Balloon whisk
- •Sharp knife and board
Instructions
- 1
Warm the stock
Warm the stock in a small pan until it is hot but not boiling. Warm liquid blends into a roux cleanly because the flour starch swells evenly; cold stock hits the hot flour and sets it into lumps before your whisk can catch up.
- 2
Cook the roux
Melt the butter over medium-low heat, add the flour, and stir for 3 to 4 minutes until it smells nutty and stays pale blond. Do not brown it. A dark roux tastes roasted, and this sauce should stay light enough for fish, eggs, potatoes, or Spargel, white asparagus.
Use a whisk for the liquid, but a wooden spoon is better for the first roux. It scrapes the corners of the pan where flour likes to sit and burn quietly. - 3
Loosen the sauce
Whisk in the warm stock a ladle at a time, letting each addition turn smooth before the next goes in. This is not fussiness. It gives the starch time to take the liquid evenly, so the sauce thickens glossy instead of grainy.
- 4
Simmer it clean
Add the milk or cream and simmer gently for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring often, until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Keep it below a hard boil because dairy tightens and the flour can catch on the bottom. Runter mit der Temperatur.
- 5
Season the base
Whisk in the mustard, vinegar or lemon juice, sugar, salt, and pepper. Taste now, before the dill goes in. The sauce should be lightly sour and properly salted, because dill will perfume the sauce but it will not fix a flat base.
- 6
Add the dill
Take the pan off the hard heat and stir in the chopped dill just before serving. Fresh dill loses its green colour and clean edge when it boils, so let the finished sauce carry it, not cook it to death. Würzen, Fett, Salz zum Schluss.
Chef Tips
- •Match the stock to the plate. Fish stock for poached cod or trout, vegetable stock for asparagus and potatoes, light chicken stock for boiled eggs. The sauce is simple enough that the liquid has nowhere to hide.
- •Chop dill with a sharp knife, not a tired one. A dull blade bruises the leaves into a wet green paste, and then the sauce tastes muddy.
- •If the sauce gets too thick, loosen it with a spoon of warm stock. If it tastes heavy, add a few drops more vinegar or lemon. Sourness is what keeps this pale sauce awake.
- •Serve with poached fish, boiled potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, cucumber, or Spargel. The sauce is light, but it still wants something plain underneath it.
Advance Preparation
- •Make the roux-thickened base up to 1 day ahead without the dill. Cool it, cover it, and refrigerate it; fresh dill added early turns dull and loses its clean smell.
- •Reheat the base gently with a splash of stock or milk, then add the chopped dill just before serving. Boil it hard and you have punished the herb for no reason.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 175g)
Calories
135 calories
Total Fat
10 g
Saturated Fat
6 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
3 g
Cholesterol
25 mg
Sodium
650 mg
Total Carbohydrates
10 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
3 g
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