It can be a rather exciting adventure and challenge to develop an admirable sauce to serve with fish. We always tend to gravitate to nice parsley and/or lemon sauce. But, in fairness, it goes well with most fish. Lemon gives fish a nice acidic kick and is super popular. But, it can be a little boring after being served too often.

In Denmark, and perhaps many other parts of the world, we eat different variations of white fish such as cod. We don’t really have catfish, but I have tested my sauce (below) with catfish, and it worked perfectly.

The mustard sauce that I’m about to share is an old-school approach that I learned during home economics.

Home Economics is dead!

You might wonder what home economics is? It is essentially a class kids attend in middle and high school where you learn valuable skills such as basic cooking, sewing, and other topics. HomeEc was on most schedules until the early 1990s but eliminated when it was renamed Family and Consumer Sciences.

Many considered HomeEc sexist, although I firmly believe anyone should learn the basics of household chores before graduating. Too many kids can’t even boil or fry an egg today and only encourage them to eat all the shitty premade freezer meals or fast food – giving rise to obesity and unhealthy lifestyles.

Granted, I wouldn’t say I liked HomeEc when I was a kid, but it has helped me tremendously as a young person living alone and as a parent trying to cook for my kids.

Making mustard sauce

Today we are making a sauce that is ‘baked.’ I’m sure there is a better description in the American language, but this is a rough translation from the Danish word “opbagt sovs.”

Disclaimer – Please note that I do not use salt when cooking, especially when serving seafood. Seafood has plenty of natural salts, and in this case, mustard and black pepper can be used to increase flavors.

Find your ingredients

• 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
• 2 tablepsoons of flour
• 2 cups of milk (of your choice)
• 2-3 teaspoons of Dijon mustard with seeds
• Black pepper to taste

1-2-3 ready gravy!

1. Slowly melt the butter in a pot. It cannot turn brown.
2. Add the flour and whisk it together with the butter
3. Add the milk whil stirring, and make sure all the lumps are gone
4. The sauce will get thicker, and you might need to add a little extra milk to obtain the preferred consistency.
5. Add the mustard and mix well
6. Once you have reached the desired mustard kick
   1. Please note, the sauce must not boil as it might burn
7. Let it heat through for a few minutes, and then turn off the sauce and remove from the heat

This sauce is best served with white fish, beetroot, grilled Brussels sprouts, and boiled potatoes. You can place the mustard glass on the table in case people want a little stronger mustard kick.

I hope you enjoy this version. You can make the mustard a little milder for the kids if you use other mustard versions. You are the chef in your kitchen and you decide how the flavors should be.

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