Remoulade


Rémoulade is a French cold sauce based on mayonnaise. Although similar to tartar sauce, it is often more yellowish, sometimes flavored with curry, and sometimes contains chopped pickles or piccalilli. It can also contain horseradish, paprika, anchovies, capers and a host of other items. While its original purpose was possibly for serving with meats, it is now more often used as a condiment or dipping sauce, primarily for sole, plaice, and seafood cakes.

Use

Rémoulade is used in France, Denmark, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Poland and in the United States, especially in Louisiana Creole cuisine. It is often used with french fries, on top of roast beef items, and as a hot dog condiment, although there are a multitude of other applications:

Sauce rémoulade

According to Larousse Gastronomique, rémoulade is 250 ml of mayonnaise with 2 tablespoons mixed herbs, 1 tablespoon drained capers, 2 finely diced cornichons and a few drops of anchovy essence. Some recipes use chopped anchovy fillets. The rémoulade used in céleri-rave rémoulade is not the same as the remoulades discussed in this article, but is instead based on a simple mustard-flavoured vinegar and oil dressing spiced with salt, pepper, and chopped green herbs. Rémoulade is classified in French cooking as a derivative of the mayonnaise sauce.

Danish remoulade

Danish remoulade has a mild, sweet-sour taste and a medium yellow color. The typical industrially-made variety does not contain capers, but finely-chopped cabbage and pickled cucumber, fair amounts of sugar and hints of mustard, cayenne pepper, coriander and onion, and turmeric for color. The herbs are replaced by herbal essences, e.g., tarragon vinegar. Starch, gelatin or milk protein may be added as thickeners.
Homemade or gourmet varieties may use olive oil, capers, pickles, carrots, cucumber, lemon juice, dill, chervil, parsley or other fresh herbs, and possibly curry.
In Denmark remoulade is mostly used for french fries, hotdogs and for open sandwiches with roast beef, salami, fish cakes or fried fish.

Louisiana remoulade

Louisiana remoulade can vary from the French-African Creole, the rustic Afro-Caribbean Creole, or the Classic Cajun version, and like the local variants of roux, each version is different from the French original. Creole versions often have tan or pink hues and are usually piquant. Louisiana-style remoulades fall generally into one of two categories—those with a mayonnaise base and those with an oil base, but sometimes both mayonnaise and oil are used. Each version may have finely chopped vegetables, usually green onions and celery, and parsley; most are made with either Creole or stone-ground mustard. Salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper are also standard ingredients. In the oil- and mayonnaise-based versions, the reddish hue often comes from the addition of a small amount of ketchup and/or paprika. The sauce is often topped with paprika for the aesthetics as well as the flavor. Generally, lemon juice or vinegar are added for acidity. Other additions include hardboiled egg or raw egg yolks, minced garlic, hot sauce, vinegar, horseradish, capers, cornichons, and Worcestershire sauce.
While the classic white remoulade is a condiment that can be offered in a variety of contexts, Creole remoulade is used on shrimp, crabs, fried calamari, artichokes, and fried green tomatoes among other foods. Today, shrimp remoulade is a very common cold appetizer in New Orleans Creole restaurants, although, historically, hard boiled eggs with remoulade was a less expensive option on some menus. Shrimp remoulade is most often served as a stand-alone appetizer. One might also see crawfish remoulade, but restaurants seldom offer remoulade sauce as an accompaniment with fish, where cocktail sauce and tartar sauce are generally preferred. However, food columnist and cookbook author Leon Soniat does suggest to "Serve over seafood or with sliced asparagus."
Central Mississippi has comeback sauce, a condiment that is very similar to Louisiana remoulade.