Ostesovs med Blomkål

Some dishes belong to Sundays without anyone having to say so. In Denmark, a whole boiled cauliflower with cheese sauce is one of them. It sits in the center of the table, pale and steaming under a coat of golden ostesovs, and there's something about the way it arrives, complete and generous, that makes the meal feel like it was cooked with love.

Ostesovs is hvid sovs with cheese melted through it. That's all. Hvid sovs, the Danish white sauce, is the foundation of more weeknight dinners than any other preparation in the repertoire. You make a roux of butter and flour, build it with warm milk, and stir until it thickens into something smooth and glossy. Then you take the pan off the heat and fold in grated Danbo or Havarti, and the sauce turns from white to gold. The pan comes off the heat because cheese and direct flame don't agree. You'll understand why the first time you try it the other way.

I want you to pay attention to two things. First, cook the roux long enough. Two full minutes, stirring. If you skip this, the sauce tastes of raw flour, a chalky, papery note that sits underneath everything else and won't leave. Second, warm your milk before it goes in. Cold milk into a hot roux is the fastest way to lumps, and lumps in a cheese sauce are not the kind of texture anyone wants. Get these two things right and the rest takes care of itself. You'll know when it's right.