Schnittlauchsauce (Viennese Chive Sauce)

April 5, 2023

Schnittlauchsauce (Viennese Chive Sauce) - kvalifood.com

Schnittlauchsauce is the traditional Viennese sauce served alongside Tafelspitz (boiled beef). What makes it distinctive is the bread-and-egg emulsion - white bread soaked in broth, pressed through a sieve with cooked egg yolk, then emulsified with oil like a mayonnaise. Chives are folded in at the very end, never cooked. The sauce should be thick enough to hold its shape slightly on the plate.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

50 g crustless white bread (~2 slices, such as toast or soft roll)
150 ml warm beef broth
2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
2 raw egg yolks
120 ml neutral oil (sunflower or corn germ oil)
1 tsp mustard, mild and smooth (Dijon-style or Austrian Senf)
1 tbsp gherkin brine (or white wine vinegar)
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 pinch sugar
1 pinch cayenne pepper
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
4 tbsp fresh chives, finely cut into rings

Directions

Tear the bread into pieces and soak in the warm beef broth until soft, about 5 minutes.
Shell the hard-boiled eggs and separate the yolks from the whites. Set the whites aside.
Press the soaked bread (with its liquid) and the cooked egg yolks through a fine sieve into a mixing bowl. Alternatively, blend until completely smooth with an immersion blender.
Add the raw egg yolks and mustard to the bread paste. Blend or whisk to combine.
While blending, add the oil in a thin stream to emulsify, as when making mayonnaise. The sauce should become thick and creamy.
Season with the gherkin brine (or vinegar), lemon juice, sugar, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Taste and adjust - the sauce should have a noticeable but not sharp acidity.
Finely chop the reserved hard-boiled egg whites and fold them into the sauce for texture.
Just before serving, fold in the freshly cut chives. Do not heat the chives.
Serve cold or at room temperature alongside Tafelspitz or other boiled beef. If desired, warm very gently (do not let it boil or the emulsion will break).

Notes

The sauce can be prepared a few hours ahead and refrigerated. Add chives just before serving.
Gherkin brine (Essiggurkerlwasser) is the authentic Austrian acid. It adds a complexity that plain vinegar does not match. Use liquid from an open jar of pickled gherkins.
Raw egg yolks are used. Use fresh, high-quality eggs.
For a lighter version, replace half the oil with sour cream or creme fraiche and reduce the bread to 30 g.