"Imitation" Frankfurt Green Sauce (Grie Sooß)

Known in standard German as "Grüne Soße" (ß=double s), but in the Hessian dialect of Frankfurt as, "Grie Sooß," I have used the term "imitation," as all of the traditional herbs* are not easily found outside of the Frankfurt area, not even in Germany, so I had to use some substitutes.** There are variations in the recipe, especially in northern Hessen,*** in and around the city of Kassel, which "seems" to have been the sauce's place of origin, although other cultures, like Italian, Spanish and French, also have "similar" sauces. This sauce is traditionally served with hard boiled egg halves, and/or, boiled potatoes (see photo below), but it is also often served with beef or fish, especially salmon. "Supposedly" the herbal sauce was writer and poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's favorite dish. Goethe was born in Frankfurt and I visited his house back more than thirty years ago, but he wasn't home. You think it might have been because Goethe died in 1832? He spent much of his later life in Weimar. I've had the sauce several times in Frankfurt over the years.

There are many variations on how to make Green Sauce, and yogurt is used by some. While not exactly the same, I based my version on a recipe in, "Original Hessisch, The Best of Hessian Food," by Angela Francisca Endress and Barbara Nickerson, published by Walter Hädecke Verlag, Weil der Stadt, Germany, 2010. Since some of the Frankfurt herbs are difficult to get, use whatever you can get, and besides the ingredients I used, even kale and arugula should be fine. I'm sure there will be no penalty for being practical. Then again, maybe if there is a penalty, you'll visit Goethe's house in Frankfurt, and HE WILL be home! 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup mayonnaise (reduced fat is fine)
1 cup sour cream (reduced fat is fine, don't worry about what Goethe might think)
juice of one lemon
3 hard-boiled eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons oil (I used canola; remember, using extra virgin olive oil will alter the taste)
1 teaspoon mustard
(the herbs should total about a cup, not tightly packed, when finely chopped; so, use your own proportions for each type, but watercress has a little bite, so I'd limit how much you use, and chives are related to onions, and have that general taste. When you rinse the herbs before using, make sure to dry them before chopping them. No stems of any size should be used, and I've seen German recipes that recommend tearing the herbs by hand, instead of chopping them.) 

parsley
chives
Swiss chard
spinach
watercress
dill
tarragon

Boil the eggs and let them cool, then peel them. In a bowl, I then use a fork to smash and break up the eggs very well; no big chunks. Then combine the eggs along with the mayonnaise, sour cream, salt, pepper, oil, mustard, sugar and lemon juice. Mix very well. Add the herbs and thoroughly mix. Chill the sauce for an hour or two minimum before using. 
 
* There are seven "must use" herbs in "authentic" Frankfurt Green Sauce: parsley, chives, chervil, sorrel, garden cress, borage and pimpernel. Of the many recipes I've seen for the sauce, almost all simply list "cress" (Kresse, in German), and there are several varieties of the plant, but I've chosen to list "garden cress," as that was in the recipe I used for the basis of this version here. Watercress is common in many cultures, including in the U.S., so using it is fine, as from what I've read, the varieties of cress plants all have similar taste, which is a bit biting. Another thing, there can be several names for the same type of cress, depending upon country or region. For U.S. readers, if you've never had or bought watercress, most major supermarkets have it, as do, of course, "farmer type" markets. About 40 years ago, I knew two guys who loved watercress, and the one, a major beer drinker, told how he would rinse it off, put it in a bowl, add some salt, and eat it while watching television and drinking beer. He was about 60 years old then, and watercress was in some stores or markets even back then in the U.S., as I gave it a try, and liked it (or was it the beer I liked?)

** Of my substitutes, tarragon is even commonly used as part of the dish in other parts of Hessen, and so is spinach, but less so; thus, I didn't really veer that far from Hessen.

*** Hessen is a German state in western Germany. Its capital is Wiesbaden and Frankfurt is located only 20 to 25 miles away. Frankfurt is Hessen's largest city, and is Germany's financial capital.  
 
I had mine with hard boiled egg halves and boiled potatoes, with a dab of butter.

WORD HISTORY:
Dill-This word has an unknown origin, although it might be an invention of Old Germanic, as forms are only found in the Germanic languages, and forms in other languages "seem" to all be borrowings from Germanic languages or dialects. German and Low German Saxon have "Dill," Dutch and West Frisian have "dille," Danish has "dild," Norwegian, Icelandic and Swedish have "dill."

Some Memories of Germany, Frankfurt, Part 2

Besides apple wine,* which is hard cider, Frankfurt is known for "Handkäse mit Musik," with the first often written as "Handkäs," and it is literally "hand cheese," as it was formed by hand, although commercially now I'm sure it is all done by machine. It is a light colored cheese formed into a ball, which when served with oil, vinegar, salt and pepper, it is said to be "mit Musik" (with music). The reason for the music? Well, the polite explanation has always been that the oil and vinegar bottles clanking together provided "music," but the common explanation is that the onion caused some people to develop gas, which then provided the "music," if you get my drift. I always liked this cheese dish.

Another specialty of Frankfurt and region is "Grüne Soße" (ß=ss, "green sauce"), but known in Hessian dialect as "Grie Sooß," or "Grie Soos," an herb sauce made with various herbs, sour cream, mayonnaise or cream, chopped hard boiled eggs and some other ingredients, and often served with either boiled beef, salmon, boiled potatoes, or hard boiled egg halves. The herbs vary from area to area, and also by availability, but most often include some or all of the following: chives, parsley, chervil, sorrel, dill, watercress, borage and tarragon. I've often heard in Frankfurt that native son and famous author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe considered this sauce to be his favorite.

Frankfurt has a great shopping district, the "Zeil" (it is "die Zeil," pronounced as if "dee tsile," rhymes with "tile") a pedestrian only area, known in German as a "Fußgängerzone." It was, and I suppose still is, common to see musicians playing, gymnasts springing about, or magicians performing along the Zeil, and of course they had a jar, can or hat for "welcome donations." The Christmas season has the Frankfurt Christkindlmarkt (Christmas Market, literally, Christ Child Market) at the "Römerberg," a plaza in the heart of the old part of the city, which has the Frankfurt city hall, a structure several hundred years old, although much of it was destroyed in World War Two, only to be rebuilt as closely as possible to the original plans. I was in Frankfurt in December 1988 and got to see this seasonal market setup there, complete with a glass of "Glühwein" (warm spiced wine, literally to English: "glow wine"). I also was using Pan Am for my round trip, and I left Germany just like two days before that Pan Am flight exploded over Scotland, the result of a bomb placed on board, but my flight went directly from Frankfurt to New York, then a change of planes for Cleveland.    

* There are many dialects words for apple wine, including: Äppelwein, Ebbelwoi, Ebbelwei, and Stöffche,  although in standard German it is "Apfelwein."

This is a picture of the inside of the main train station (Hauptbahnhof) in Frankfurt from the 1980s, with some of the shops visible.

WORD HISTORY:
Shop-The origin of this word is uncertain, but Old Germanic had "skuppan," which meant "add-on building (to the main or original structure), additional building or structure." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "scoppa/sceoppa," which meant "shed, booth, workplace." This then became "shoppe," before the modern form, although "shoppe" is still used by some as part of the name for a business. The word's spelling was likely reinforced by French "eschoppe," which was borrowed from a Germanic dialect (Frankish? Low German? Dutch?), and which meant "booth." Since some sold items from these structures, the idea of "a place to sell merchandise" developed in English, and from that, "to go to such a place to buy merchandise," which gave English the verb sense in the 1600s. The meaning "place for work" has also lasted into modern times, especially in terms like "workshop," "metal shop" and "print shop." The original Germanic also gave Old English "scipen," which meant "cowshed, cow stall," and it came down to modern times as "shippon," but it survives in dialect in Eng;land, and still means "cowshed."  "Shop" has a close relative in German "Schuppen" (shed).