Svíčková, tomato and dill: Czech sweet-sour sauces

Why

Svíčková is built on root vegetables – carrot, celeriac and parsley root – roasted with the meat and blended or sieved until smooth: the soft-cooked vegetables thicken the sauce by themselves, so it needs no flour. Dusting with flour is also a traditional variant, but in our recipe only the vegetables thicken the sauce and no mustard goes in. Czech tomato and dill sauces, by contrast, are built on a pale roux: in tomato sauce the roux thickens a stock with blended vegetables and tomato purée, dill sauce is a roux with milk, cream and dill, so a floury taste in them means the sauce has not simmered long enough. All three share a balance of sweet and sour: sugar, vinegar and lemon are added a little at a time and adjusted only at the end, because reducing thickens the sauce and concentrates the flavour. Acid and boiling are also the main causes of curdled cream; rich whipping cream usually withstands a short boil with vinegar, while thinner cooking cream goes into an acidic sauce only at the end and is just heated through.

How to do it

• Let the vegetables for svíčková soften completely with the meat, then blend or sieve them with the pan juices until smooth.
• Following our recipe, thicken svíčková with the vegetables and by reducing; simmer a thin sauce uncovered, thin an overly thick one with water or stock.
• Add liquid to the roux for tomato and dill sauce gradually, stirring constantly, then simmer the sauce gently for at least 15 minutes.
• Add sugar, vinegar and lemon a little at a time, taste, and fine-tune the sweet-sour balance only at the end.
• Stir thinner cream into the finished sauce and only heat it through; don't boil it.
• Remove whole spices such as bay leaf, allspice or cloves from the sauce before blending.

If it goes wrong

Balance a sauce that is too sour with a little sugar or cream, and one that is too sweet with a drop of vinegar or lemon – always a little at a time, tasting as you go. In our recipe, a thin svíčková is thickened by reducing it or blending in more vegetables. A floury taste in tomato or dill sauce usually disappears after about 10 more minutes of gentle simmering while stirring.