New Potatoes with Parsley Sauce (Nye kartofler med persillesovs)
Small new potatoes just boiled, coated in a creamy white sauce with fresh parsley, generous and velvety. A spring classic of the Danish home.
Small new potatoes just boiled, coated in a creamy white sauce with fresh parsley, generous and velvety. A spring classic of the Danish home.
In June, when the first tiny potatoes come out of the ground, you do them the honor of not complicating things: a little water, salt, and that's it. The sauce, I made it with butter and flour, thinned with milk, and threw in a good handful of parsley from my garden. It's modest, I grant you—but it is the very taste of a Danish summer.
- •New potatoes — a good plateful (base)
- •Butter — a knob (roux)
- •Wheat flour — a little (thickener)
- •Fresh milk — as needed (sauce)
- •Fresh parsley — a large handful (signature)
- •Salt — to taste (seasoning)
New Potatoes with Parsley Sauce (Nye kartofler med persillesovs)
Small new potatoes just boiled, coated in a creamy white sauce with fresh parsley, generous and velvety. A spring classic of the Danish home.
Why this dish? Seasonal potatoes and Nordic vegetables were the heart of Danish bourgeois cuisine in Lehmann's time. This mild, comforting dish is the kind of simple dinner one prepared at home in the evening after work.
In June, when the first tiny potatoes come out of the ground, you do them the honor of not complicating things: a little water, salt, and that's it. The sauce, I made it with butter and flour, thinned with milk, and threw in a good handful of parsley from my garden. It's modest, I grant you—but it is the very taste of a Danish summer.
Ingredients (period version)
- New potatoes — a good plateful (base)
- Butter — a knob (roux)
- Wheat flour — a little (thickener)
- Fresh milk — as needed (sauce)
- Fresh parsley — a large handful (signature)
- Salt — to taste (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Baby potatoes — 600 g (base)
- Butter — 30 g (roux)
- Flour — 30 g (thickener)
- Whole milk — 400 ml (sauce)
- Flat-leaf parsley — 1 large bunch, chopped (signature)
- Salt and nutmeg — to taste (seasoning)
Method
- Scrub the new potatoes without peeling and boil in salted water for 12-15 minutes, until tender.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter, add the flour and cook the roux for 1 minute without browning.
- Gradually whisk in the milk to obtain a smooth white sauce; season with salt and a pinch of nutmeg.
- Remove from heat and stir in a large amount of chopped parsley.
- Drain the potatoes, generously coat with the sauce, and serve immediately.
How it was made : White sauce (Nordic béchamel) was a common home-cooking staple. Served on early summer new potatoes, sometimes with eggs or thin slices of cold meat, it made a simple family dinner.
The contemporary twist : A few shavings of fresh horseradish on top awaken the sauce's mildness—a nod to Nordic pungent flavors.
Inge Lehmann · Charactorium
