Koprová omáčka – Czech Dill Sauce
This white sauce is exceptionally delicious. It combines sweet and sour taste, enhanced with aromatic fresh dill flavor. Koprová omáčka belongs to traditional recipes, which I can highly recommend to anyone interested in Czech cuisine.
Servings 3
Ingredients
- 3 cups (720 ml) beef broth
- 3 Tbsp fresh dill chopped, without stems
- ½ stick (55 g) butter unsalted
- 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (180 ml) heavy cream with a fat content about 30 %
- 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp vinegar
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Let’s begin with making a roux. Melt butter over medium heat in a pot with a thicker bottom (I’m using my dutch oven). Add all-purpose flour and stir well for 1 minute. The flour should start bubbling, and the resulting color must be lightly golden.
- Start adding beef broth in batches. Add about ½ cup while stirring; a thick floury mash will be created. Add more broth, stir. Continue until using all broth. Making roux thickened sauce this way will prevent it from building lumps.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a minimum. Cover with a lid and allow the sauce to simmer for 20 minutes.
- Meantime, chop the dill.
- Add salt, sugar, and heavy cream to the sauce. Set aside, stir with a spoon, do not cook anymore!
- Add vinegar and chopped dill. Mix, possibly season with more salt/sugar to your liking.
- Let it sit for 5 minutes, and koprová omáčky is ready to go on the table!
Notes
- Makes 3 yields.
- Serve warm with sliced bread dumplings arranged along the edge of a plate. Pour koprovka into the middle of the plate, you can partly pour the sauce over dumplings. Lay a halved hard-boiled egg yellow side up in the sauce, garnish with a sprig of fresh dill.
- Koprovka is a white sauce; the roux you make at the beginning can’t get brown, just lightly golden. Fry roux max. for 1 minute, no longer.
- Add the dill only at the end of cooking to koprová sauce for the best achievement. Fresh dill loses flavor and its vivid color the longer is cooked.