A warm mustard sauce is a matter of timing: mustard loses its sharpness as soon as it boils. Stir it in off the heat and you keep the bite; boil it and you are left with only the sourness.
Mustard sauce
Sauce moutarde
Mustard sauce
Sauce moutarde
Method
01
Base
Heat the béchamel with the cream to just below boiling and simmer gently for 5 minutes.
02
Mustard
Take the pan off the heat and whisk in the Dijon mustard. Do not boil again from this point.
03
Finish
Stir in the wholegrain mustard for texture and a few drops of lemon juice for freshness.
04
Season
Season with salt and white pepper. If you like, add half a teaspoon of honey to round off the sourness.
05
Serve
Serve immediately or keep warm over a bain-marie at a maximum of 65 °C.
Tips & notes
Always taste after adding the mustard, not before. Mustards differ enormously in salt content; a sauce that was well seasoned before the mustard is often too salty afterwards. Keeps for 3–4 days in the fridge, and freezes very well (up to 3 months); the flavour often deepens further the next day.
Chef's tip
Classically this is a small sauce derived from béchamel; in Flemish and Limburg cooking it is best known as the sauce for smoked fish and for rabbit with prunes. For rabbit, a spoonful of syrup belongs in it; that isn't a corruption but a regional custom.
Variations
- Sauce Robert – The brown counterpart on demi-glace with onion and white wine.
- With tarragon – Add chopped tarragon, for chicken and veal.
- With beer – Replace part of the milk with blond beer, for pork.
Contains:
Milk
Mustard
Serve with
- Smoked mackerel
- Herring
- Pork tenderloin
- Boiled eggs
- Rabbit
- Chicory
| Calories | 147 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 3 g |
| Carbohydrates | 8 g |
| Fat | 11 g |
| Fibre | 0 g |
Estimated values, calculated from standard nutritional values per ingredient.
