Predecessors of the green sauce are possible known for 2000 years throughout Europe, it belongs to a family of uncooked herb sauces, such as the French “sauce verte” or the Italian and Spanish “salsa verde”
Brought from the orient by the romans, who took the recipe with them to Europe, it is unclear how it found its way to Germany.
There are two main theories on the sauce found its way two Frankfurt, one states that it was possible brought from Lombardy by several merchant families including the Bolongaro, the Brentano and the Guaita and then has been distributed around the 17th century.
The other theorises that it was brought by protestant refugees, most likely the Huguenots that fled from the catholic France during the religious motivated Huguenot wars. It is stated that the most likely brought the recipe for the French “sauce verte” with them and because of different herbs and ingredients being available in Frankfurt its slowly developed in the Frankfurt green sauce.
The season starts on the Maundy Thursday, which is in German known as “grüner Donnerstag” (literally: green Thursday) and ends in autumn with the first frost. Reason for this being that it consists of seven herbs that all must be present to make the sauce.
The herbs are: parsley, chives, chervil, borage, sorrel, garden cress and salad burnet the ingredients must be very fresh and diligently measured. Together with sour crème, oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and hard-boiled eggs, its then mixed together into a thick sauce.
There is some local variation, but the seven herbs always make up the base of the sauce.
The sauce is always served cold and can be used in variety of dishes, however the most common and traditional once are with green sauce, potatoes and eggs.
In resend times it founds it way into fine dying restaurants who try to impetrate the traditional dishes in new light, so can it now be found in all sorts of combinations with meat’s and Fisch.
If you find yourself coming to Frankfurt during the season, you will be able to find the sauce in most German restaurant and you will also be able to by the bundled herbs in all sorts of shops, if you want to try yourself on the recipe.
