Arwen's notes:
Our redaction was based on the one from A Taste of History, but I have since adjusted the amounts slightly. Their redaction called for one part mustard to one part vinegar to three parts butter; I have since reduced the butter to approximately 1.5 parts.
This sauce will congeal if it cools; it will still be edible (and quite tasty), but the texture is more pleasing when served warm. (However, if you get it too warm and it boils, the butter will separate out, which is equally unpleasant.) I often use a candle-powered fondue pot to both prepare the sauce and keep it warm for serving.
I prefer a whole-grain mustard for this sauce, but try to stay away from the dijon mustards, as they are a little sharp. There are a couple of "stout" and "porter" mustards that work very well; in a pinch, I suppose yellow mustard would do, though I haven't tried it.
For vinegar, I've used balsamic, which gives the sauce a very nice flavor, but which turns it a rather unpleasant, nasty brown. Recently, however, I've been able to find some nice white or golden balsamic vinegars that have much the same flavor, with a more pleasing color. Cider or white wine vinegar would also work.
For an extra touch of decadence, visit your local oriental market and pick up a few cans of quail eggs to serve with this sauce.
The above recipe allows for extra sauce, because we quickly discovered that while it's very good on eggs, it's also good on almost everything else. We've had it on sausage, Fystes of Portingale, chicken, beef ... even vegetables.
And just to prove that the sauce is truly versatile ... I was going through some old family recipes when I came across my mom's recipe for mustard barbecue sauce, which I loved as a kid. Guess what? It consisted of mustard, vinegar, and butter! So it also works as a marinade and basting sauce for the grill (it's excellent on chicken, by the way ...).
Seeth your Egges almost hard, then peele them and cut them in quarters, then take a little Butter in a frying panne, a little Vinegar, Mustarde, Pepper and Salte, and then put it into a platter upon your egges.
J. Partridge, The Widowes Treasure, quoted in "A Taste of History"; Tatiana Pavlovna Sokolova, Arwen Southernwood, The Stewpot Period Culinary Guild (SCA)
Siehe auch: Senfeier aus der Pfanne