Sauces for rainbow trout

The right sauce lifts rainbow trout from good to festive, and both classics are easy to make yourself. Hovmästarsås belongs with cured fish, while Sandefjord sauce is the creamy companion to grilled and poached rainbow trout. Both take only a few minutes.

Hovmästarsås

The sweet-and-sour mustard sauce for cured rainbow trout. Stir it together cold:

• 2 tbsp sweet-hot mustard and 1 tsp ordinary mustard
• 1–2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp vinegar (or lemon juice)
• about 1 dl neutral oil
• Plenty of chopped dill, salt and pepper

Whisk mustard, sugar and vinegar, add the oil in a thin stream while stirring until the sauce thickens, and fold in the dill last. Let it sit a while in the fridge so the flavours settle.

Sandefjord sauce

The creamy butter-and-cream sauce for grilled and poached rainbow trout. Do this:

• Reduce 1 dl cream a little in a saucepan.
• Whisk in about 100 g cold butter in cubes, a little at a time, over low heat until the sauce is smooth.
• Season with lemon juice, salt and plenty of chopped dill.

Do not let the sauce boil once the butter is in, or it can split. Serve it warm, straight away.

Which sauce for what

Simple rule: hovmästarsås for the cured and cold, Sandefjord sauce for the grilled, pan-fried and poached. Both also sit well with baked rainbow trout. More recipes are under cook the catch.