The classic American sauce: creamy, green, and herbaceous, made with mayonnaise, sour cream, anchovies, tarragon, parsley, chives, and lemon.
Ingredients
- 250 g good-quality plain mayonnaise
- 160 g thick sour cream
- 20 g anchovy fillets in oil
- 1 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 bunch fresh chives
- 6 sprigs fresh tarragon
- 2 pieces fresh scallion
- 1 piece unwaxed lemon
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 clove fresh garlic
- to taste fine salt
- to taste ground black pepper
Method
- Wash the parsley, chives, tarragon, and scallions in cold water, then dry them very thoroughly in a clean cloth or salad spinner. The herbs must be dry to the touch so the sauce stays thick rather than watery.
- Strip the leaves from the parsley and tarragon, removing the tough stems. Keep the tender parsley stems if they are fine and fragrant. Roughly slice the scallions and cut the chives to make blending easier.
- Drain the anchovy fillets, then crush them with the garlic on a board until you have a smooth, supple paste. The mixture should smell salty and anchovy-rich, with no visible pieces.
- Combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, anchovy-garlic paste, herbs, scallions, vinegar, and lemon juice in a blender jar. Blend in pulses at first, then continuously, until you have a green, creamy sauce that coats a spoon.
- Scrape down the sides of the blender jar and blend briefly again. The correct texture should be smooth but not runny, with very fine visible flecks of herbs; it should fall slowly from the spoon and leave a thick ribbon on the surface.
- Taste and adjust with salt, pepper, and a little lemon if needed. Add salt cautiously, since the anchovies and mayonnaise already provide plenty of seasoning.
- Transfer to a clean jar, cover, and refrigerate before serving. This resting time lets the tarragon, chives, and anchovy meld into the creamy base.
- Serve cold as a thick sauce with crudités, romaine lettuce, chilled shrimp, poached fish, cold roast chicken, or chilled steamed potatoes.
Nutrition
Per serving
- Energy
- 232.6 kcal
- Protein
- 3.09 g
- Carbohydrate
- 5.29 g
- Fat
- 22.32 g
- Fibre
- 2.41 g
- Calcium
- 38.22 mg
- Iron
- 0.19 mg
- Magnesium
- 7.41 mg
