Green sauce or greensauce is a family of cold, uncooked sauces based on chopped herbs, including the Spanish and Italian salsa verde, the French sauce verte, the German grüne Soße or Frankfurter grie Soß (Frankfurt dialect), the British mint sauce and greensauce, and the Argentinian chimichurri. The Mexican salsa verde, though also called a "green sauce", is instead based on tomatillos and is commonly cooked; the New Mexico version uses a green chile base. History Green sauce has a long history in many parts of Europe. It was certainly present in the Middle Ages, and may date to the Classical period. Green sauce made with parsley and often sage was one of the most common sauces of medieval cookery. In a 14th-century recipe, green sauce served with a dish of cheese and whole egg yolks boiled in watered down wine with herbs and spices was recommended for "lords, for settling their temperament and whetting their appetite". The basic recipe is probably from the Near East and, as such, is probably at least 2,000 years old. Roman legionaries brought it to Italy, from where it was exported to France and Germany. Evidence suggests that it was introduced in Frankfurt by the Italian trading families Bolongaro and Crevenna around 1700. A possible origin of the German variant are French Protestant immigrants emigrating to Kurhessen in the 18th century. The German variant uses a different mix of herbs, since Mediterranean herbs were not available in Germany at the time. Ancient Rome The Apicius (5th century CE) mentions a Ius viride in avibus 'Green sauce for fowl' consisting of pepper, caraway, spikenard, cumin, bay leaves, a variety of green herbs, dates, honey, vinegar, wine, broth, and oil. Spain In Spain, salsa verde ("green sauce") usually refers to a fish sauce. The sauce is prepared using a base made of garlic and onion sofrito. A flour-coated piece of fish (typically hake, clams) is added to it. Once the flour coating has cooked, white wine and fish fumet is added, letting the fish be boiled. As the fish is cooked through, the sauce thickens. In the final steps, parsley is added, giving the sauce its characteristic green colour. Merluza en salsa verde (Hake in green sauce) is perhaps the most typical dish prepared in this way. Depending on the fish and on the region, other green herbs may be employed as well, including spinach, fresh savory,