Cold sauces & condiments
Schnittlauchsauce
Schnittlauchsauce · An Austrian/Central European cold table sauce built on a soured-cream dairy base, generously loaded with finely snipped fresh chives and brightened with lemon juice. It functions as a reusable foundational condiment — a mother sauce for cold buffets, grilled meats, boiled beef, baked potatoes and crudités — rather than a finished dish.
The formula
10:1 dairy base:chives by weight + splash lemon + pinch sugar/salt
Canonical Plachutta ('So genießt Österreich II') ratio via Cookidoo: 150 g crème fraîche + 150 g Sauerrahm + 30 g chives + 1 EL lemon juice + ¼ TL Staubzucker + ½ TL salt → 350 g total.
Identity
- Cold, no-cook preparation from the Austrian / Bohemian tradition
- Dairy base is soured cream (Sauerrahm) — often combined 1:1 with crème fraîche for body and tang
- Fresh chives (Schnittlauch) cut into fine rings ('Röllchen') are the dominant aromatic, present at roughly 10% of the dairy weight
- Brightened with lemon juice, not vinegar, in the canonical version
- Pinched with a trace of powdered sugar (Staubzucker) to tame acidity
- Classically seasoned only with salt and white pepper; a whisper of cayenne is a Plachutta touch
- Always served chilled, never heated
Ingredients
| Base | Sauerrahm (sour cream, ~20% fat) | Provides the tangy dairy backbone; canonical at 150 g per 350 g batch. |
| Enrichment | Crème fraîche | Adds body and a rounder, less-sharp acidity; canonical at 150 g, combined 1:1 with sour cream. Can be omitted for a lighter sauce. |
| Aromatics | Fresh chives (Schnittlauch), finely snipped into rings | The defining ingredient; canonical at 30 g (≈10% of dairy weight). Must be cut, not bruised, to preserve the green colour. |
| Acid | Lemon juice, fresh | 1 EL per 350 g; balances the dairy fat and lifts the chive flavour. Plachutta uses lemon, not vinegar. |
| Sweetener | Powdered sugar (Staubzucker) | ¼ TL per 350 g — just enough to round out the sourness without making the sauce sweet. |
| Seasoning | Fine salt | ½ TL per 350 g; adjust to taste. |
| Seasoning | Freshly ground white (or black) pepper | A few pinches; white pepper keeps the sauce pale. |
| Seasoning | Cayenne pepper | Three pinches is the Plachutta/Cookidoo touch — barely perceptible warmth. |
Method
- 1Wash chives, pat thoroughly dry, then snip into fine rings (Röllchen) with scissors or a sharp knife.Wet chives water down the sauce and cause it to weep; cutting — not chopping — keeps the cells intact so the colour stays vivid green.
- 2In a cold bowl, whisk together equal parts Sauerrahm and crème fraîche with the lemon juice, salt, powdered sugar, pepper and cayenne until smooth.Equal temperature dairy emulsifies evenly; combining the acids with the dairy first prevents the chives from turning dark on contact with salt.
- 3Fold in the snipped chives, reserving a small pinch for garnish.Gentle folding preserves the chive rings intact instead of smearing them into the sauce.
- 4Taste and adjust salt, lemon and sugar — the sauce should taste bright, lightly tangy, and herb-forward, not flat.Cold dulls flavour perception, so seasoning at this stage must be slightly stronger than the finished taste.
- 5Cover and chill at least 30 minutes (ideally 1–2 hours) before serving.Resting lets the chive oils diffuse through the dairy and the flavours to marry; it also re-firms the fats so the sauce clings.
- 6Stir gently, garnish with the reserved chive rings and serve cold.Final garnishing restores the fresh-green appearance lost during resting.
Techniques that matter
Snipping (not chopping) chives
A scissor-cut or razor-sharp knife keeps the hollow stems whole so they stay bright green and don't leach bitter chlorophyll into the dairy.
Equal-temperature emulsification
Combining crème fraîche and sour cream straight from the fridge prevents fat separation and gives a stable, glossy body.
Resting (maturing) cold
Unlike a hot mother sauce, this sauce needs time for chive essential oils to infuse the dairy; flavour deepens markedly after 1–2 hours.
Variations & derivatives
Joghurt-SchnittlauchsauceGermany (ichkoche.de home recipes)
Lighter everyday version: replaces crème fraîche (or halves the sour cream) with natural yogurt; no sugar, just salt and pepper.
Minimal cold chive sauceAustria (KochJournal.at)
Stripped-back version: one bunch chives, one tub Sauerrahm, juice of half a lemon, salt, pepper — no sugar, no crème fraîche, no cayenne.
Crème-fraîche-only versionModern Austrian home cooking
Uses 300 g crème fraîche in place of the 1:1 mix; silkier, milder, lower-acid — closer to a cold raïto.
Vinegar-sharpened versionBohemian / German deli tradition
Substitutes a teaspoon of mild white-wine vinegar for the lemon juice — sharper, more 'sauer', classically served with boiled beef and horseradish.
Garlic-chive versionSouth German / Swabian
Adds a half-clove of microplaned garlic; turns the sauce toward a 'Kräuterquark' profile, excellent with grilled sausages.
Used in these dishes
Substitutions
- Crème fraîche → Extra sour cream — Drops the richness slightly and increases tang; reduce salt accordingly.
- Sauerrahm → Full-fat Greek yogurt — Much lighter and more acidic; a pinch of sugar helps. Not a 1:1 swap in body.
- Lemon juice → White wine vinegar — Classic German/Bohemian alternative — sharper, less aromatic.
- Lemon juice → Chive-blossom vinegar — Amplifies the chive character; a traditional spring touch.
- Powdered sugar → Pinch of caster sugar or honey — Honey darkens the colour slightly but works.
- Fresh chives → Frozen chives — Acceptable; colour will be duller so dress just before serving.
Troubleshooting
Sauce weeps liquid after standing
Chives were cut while still wet, or salted too early — salt draws moisture out of the chive cells. → Pat chives bone-dry before snipping, fold them in last, and salt the dairy base before combining.
Chives turn dark/blackish
Knife bruised the stems, or the sauce was dressed too far in advance and the chlorophyll oxidised. → Use scissors or a razor-sharp blade, snip just before folding in, and keep the sauce refrigerated tightly covered until service.
Sauce tastes flat or chalky
Under-seasoned or under-rested — cold masks seasoning and the chive oils need time to bloom. → Rest at least 1 hour, then re-season with salt and an extra squeeze of lemon just before serving.
Sauce is too thin/runny
Yogurt substituted without draining, or low-fat sour cream used. → Stabilise with a tablespoon of crème fraîche, or briefly drain the yogurt in cheesecloth for 20 minutes before mixing.