Eier in Senfsoße

Eier in Senfsoße sit strongest on the eastern table, Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia, the old weeknight plate with potatoes underneath and enough sauce to make the eggs matter. It is budget food, meatless food, canteen food when done badly, and a fine supper when done with care. Das ist kein Bierzelt. It is eggs, mustard, milk, stock, and potatoes, and that is enough.

The regions argue quietly over it. In the east I keep the sauce pale and sharp, with medium-hot mustard and a little vinegar or pickle liquor if the mustard is too soft. In the north you'll see dill and a cleaner sour edge. In the south the sauce is often rounder, with cream and a gentler mustard. Im Norden anders, im Süden anders, different in the north, different in the south.

The technique is simple and it decides the dish: make the roux first, cook the flour until it smells nutty but stays pale, then whisk in warm milk and stock until smooth. The mustard goes in off the heat. Boil mustard hard and you drive off its bite, roughen the sauce, and leave bitterness where there should be brightness. Nicht aus dem Glas means not a jarred sauce, not a packet. A spoon, a pan, five minutes.

Boil the potatoes in their skins if you have time, because the skin keeps the potato from drinking the pot water and turning loose. Halve the eggs so the yolks meet the sauce. Taste at the end: salt, mustard, vinegar, sugar only if the mustard needs balancing. Würzen, Fett, Salz zum Schluss. Schön ist, was schmeckt.