Kabeljau in Senfsauce

Kabeljau in Senfsauce belongs to the northern table, strongest along the Baltic coast and on Rügen, where cod, potatoes, mustard, and a little dairy make a proper meal without theatre. It is weeknight food if you have fresh fish, and Sunday food if the potatoes are good and the sauce is made carefully. Das ist kein Bierzelt. The colour here is pale fish, yellow mustard, green dill, and the clean shine of a sauce that hasn't been bullied.

Im Norden anders, im Süden anders. In Mecklenburg and Schleswig-Holstein the sauce is often sharper and lighter, built on the fish liquor and mustard. Further inland you see more cream, sometimes egg, sometimes too much flour. I keep it northern: poach the cod gently, strain the liquor, and make the sauce from that. Weggeworfen wird nichts, the cooking liquid is the backbone of the dish.

The one rule is simple: the poaching liquid must tremble, not boil. Boiling tightens cod into dry flakes and clouds the broth, and then the sauce tastes tired before it begins. Keep it quiet, lift the fish out as soon as it parts under a fork, and add the mustard at the end so its sharpness stays alive. Erst verstehen, dann kochen.