Green Goo

Learning to cook, whether it be at home or professionally, is really a process of collecting a set of skills and methods and recipe which can be called upon again and again. I'm sure the cooking industry isn't alone in this, but we refer to this collective knowledge as a “toolkit.” It's an apt metaphor, as each skill, or method, or recipe is something which might be applied to a novel ingredient or situation or meal – much like testing wrenches against an unknown bolt. The greater the tools in your arsenal, the better the cook you are. The obvious tools are the ability to sear and roast and bake and sauté, to understand the basics of braising, of why cakes fail, of how to truss a bird. Less obvious are the little memorized recipes for basic foods – a perfect salad dressing, a simple custard, a succulent roast pork belly. More than any of the other tools, these are the little bits of knowledge which differentiate a good cook from a great one.



One such little recipe, for example, is tomato fondue, a concentrated tomato paste. Though a bit time consuming, tomato fondue is easy to make, has a minimum of ingredients (tomatoes, onion, garlic, thyme, and oil) and is infinitely versatile in the kitchen. It is great with fish, or under some salt cod fritters, makes a perfect tomato risotto, enriches stocks, glazes roasts, and cleans the kitchen for you. It is a little burst of intense flavor that can be called upon time and time again, as long as you know how to make it in the first place.

Another of these versatile tools is a herb sauce: salsa verde. I've made this Italian herb, caper, vinegar, anchovy, garlic, and mustard sauce in so many of the kitchens where I've worked, and so often, that I've taken to calling it simply “green goo.” This diminutive but loving nickname has been taken up everywhere I've worked, no matter the variation of green sauce being made. And variations abound: all manner of herbs, inclusion of chili, exclusion of any of the aforementioned ingredients. The French version is a herb mayo, the Mexican is made with tomatillos, the Germans use sour cream or buttermilk. My favorite is the Italian version.



Green goo is amazingly useful. It is piquant, salty, aromatic, and refreshing. It pairs amazingly with lamb, or any other roast meat, really. Try it with some poached chicken. I like to spread a bit on a piece of white-fleshed fish before I bake it. Smear a slice of toasted sourdough with salsa verde and then float it in a bowl of soup. This sauce has so many uses, you simply need to have the recipe in your toolkit and you're ready to go.

As an example of how versatile and flavorful it is, I'm just going to toss a bit of it with some warm kipfler potatoes. This is one delicious potato salad.



Warm Potato and Salsa Verde Salad

This is pretty simple stuff. You only need to make the salsa verde, and then toss it with some warm boiled potatoes. I like kipflers for their firm waxy texture, but just about any spud will do.

Green Goo

1 bunch of parsley, leaves only
1 bunch of mint, leaves only
1 bunch of basil, leaves only
1 clove garlic, peeled
4 anchovies
2 Tbsp capers
2 Tbsp tarragon vinegar
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
100 ml olive oil
lemon juice

Chop all the herbs as fine as you can. Transfer to a bowl. Chop the garlic, anchovies, and capers until very fine. Mix these with the vinegar and mustard. Now mix this into the chopped herbs. Add the olive oil, stir to combine, and season with salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon.