A Briny Sauce for Broccoli

Roast beef with sprouting broccoli and a salsa verde of sorts

By Jesper Sjödahl

In our household, broccoli is treasured to the point that Kathe one year was gifted a big bouquet of it for her birthday by a farmer friend of ours.

A people that seems to have a never-ending love for this versatile vegetable are the British who bridge the hunger gap with over-wintered and sugar-packed sprouting varieties.

Having lunch at Rochelle Canteen in London a few years ago, we were served a plate of tender boiled broccoli dressed with a pungent and vinegary dressing which has since then been the first choice whenever I find myself with a perfect bunch. The dressing is identical to a classic salsa verde in its components but with a chunkiness to it and its proportions mixed up, leaning heavier on the brininess and less on the verde.

On Sunday we enjoyed it with thin slices of rare roast-beef, new-season carrots and fresh shelling beans, but it would be equally delicious with a poached tongue, a roast piece of turbot or - as we first encountered it - on its own for lunch.