Chef Klaus
Apfelmus
The apple-harvest preserve of the German kitchen, cooked low until the fruit collapses, then kept smooth, tart, and ready for potato pancakes or warm Mehlspeisen.
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Sahnemeerrettich
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Fresh Sahnemeerrettich belongs beside smoked fish, cold roast, and the Christmas table: grated root folded quickly into soft cream before its sharp heat escapes into the room.
Appetizers & Snacks
German
Quick Meal
Christmas
15 min
Active Time
0 min cook•20 min total
Yieldabout 350ml, 6 to 8 servings
Sahnemeerrettich is the white bite on the cold German table: beside smoked trout and salmon in the north, beside cold roast, ham, and boiled beef farther south, and on the Christmas platter when the larder is doing the work. Horseradish is a winter root, not a summer herb; it wakes up cured and smoked things without needing a pan. Weggeworfen wird nichts, a slice of yesterday's roast gets a new plate when this is next to it.
Im Norden anders, im Süden anders. The north often makes it softer, more cream and lemon for fish; Franconia and Bavaria, where the root is Kren, want it sharper, sometimes with grated apple, sometimes turned into Semmelkren with bread and stock for boiled beef. Here I make the cream version, cold and spoonable, because it belongs on a quick bread-and-fish supper as well as a Christmas board.
The one technique is this: grate the root last and fold it straight into cold, lightly acidulated cream. Cut horseradish makes its bite when the cells break, then those mustard oils run off into the air; wait too long and the bowl smells fierce while the sauce tastes tired. Acid and fat catch the sharpness, and soft whipped cream carries it. Nicht aus dem Glas. The tube has already lost the argument.
Horseradish has been grown commercially around Baiersdorf in Middle Franconia since the fifteenth century, and the town became known as the Meerrettichstadt because its traders carried the root through southern Germany. In Bavaria, Franconia, and Austria the same root is called Kren, while much of northern and central Germany says Meerrettich, a language line that matches a cooking line: sharper Kren with boiled beef and sausages in the south, softer cream horseradish with smoked fish and cold plates in the north. The cream version belongs to the cold larder table, where preserved fish, ham, and roast needed a fresh winter bite before spring herbs returned.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
cold heavy cream
Quantity
200ml
30 to 35 percent fat
crème fraîche or sour cream
Quantity
80g
cold
fresh horseradish root
Quantity
40 to 50g
peeled and finely grated
lemon juice or mild white wine vinegar
Quantity
1 tablespoon
sugar
Quantity
1 teaspoon
fine sea salt
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon, plus more to taste
tart apple (optional)
Quantity
1 small
peeled and finely grated
white pepper (optional)
Quantity
to taste
snipped chives (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| cold heavy cream30 to 35 percent fat | 200ml |
| crème fraîche or sour creamcold | 80g |
| fresh horseradish rootpeeled and finely grated | 40 to 50g |
| lemon juice or mild white wine vinegar | 1 tablespoon |
| sugar | 1 teaspoon |
| fine sea salt | 1/2 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| tart apple (optional)peeled and finely grated | 1 small |
| white pepper (optional) | to taste |
| snipped chives (optional) | 1 tablespoon |
Equipment Needed
- •Microplane or fine grater
- •Cold mixing bowl and whisk
- •Rubber spatula
- •Small serving bowl
Instructions
- 1
Chill the bowl
Put a mixing bowl and whisk in the refrigerator for ten minutes while you trim the horseradish. Cold cream traps air faster and stays spoonable longer; warm cream turns loose before the root has done its work.
Buy a firm, heavy horseradish root with no soft spots. A dry, bendy root has already spent its strength, and no amount of cream will put the bite back. - 2
Season the base
Stir the crème fraîche with the lemon juice or vinegar, sugar, salt, and a little white pepper if you're using it. The acid needs to be waiting before the root is grated, because it steadies the horseradish bite instead of letting it fly off into the room.
- 3
Whip the cream
Whip the cold cream to soft peaks, not stiff ones. Soft cream folds around the grated root and stays light; stiff cream breaks into clumps and weeps once the horseradish and acid go in.
- 4
Grate last
Peel only the piece of root you need, then grate it very fine straight before mixing. Fine grating releases the sharpness evenly; coarse shreds bite like wood and don't season the cream. Keep your face back from the grater. The root is doing its job.
- 5
Fold and taste
Fold the grated horseradish into the seasoned base, then fold that through the whipped cream with a spatula. Add the grated apple now if you want the softer Apfel-Sahnemeerrettich style. Taste with a piece of rye, smoked fish, or cold meat, not from a bare spoon; the sauce is meant to cut fat and salt, so it should taste too sharp alone and right with the plate.
- 6
Rest briefly
Chill the sauce for five to ten minutes, then taste again and correct the salt. Würzen, Fett, Salz zum Schluss. Serve it cold the same day, because fresh horseradish fades once it meets air, and tomorrow's sauce will be polite when it should be awake.
Chef Tips
- •Use fresh horseradish root. Prepared horseradish from a tube or jar has already spent much of its bite in the factory, and Sahnemeerrettich is too simple to hide that. Nicht aus dem Glas.
- •For smoked fish, use the lower amount of root and keep the lemon bright. For boiled beef, cold roast, or ham, go stronger; fat and salt need the sharper cut.
- •If the sauce is too fierce, fold in another spoon of whipped cream or grated apple. If it's dull, don't add vinegar and hope. Grate a little more fresh root and fold it in.
- •Do not warm it. Horseradish loses its clean bite with heat, and cream sauce on smoked fish has no business going near a flame.
Advance Preparation
- •Mix the crème fraîche, acid, sugar, and salt up to one day ahead and keep it cold. Whip the cream and grate the horseradish close to serving, because the fresh bite is the whole dish.
- •The finished sauce holds in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours, covered, but it will soften. Wake leftovers with a little newly grated horseradish before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 50g)
Calories
135 calories
Total Fat
13 g
Saturated Fat
8 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
4 g
Cholesterol
40 mg
Sodium
200 mg
Total Carbohydrates
3 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
1 g
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