Rémoulade (; ) is a cold

sauce In cooking, a sauce is a liquid, cream, or semi- solid food, served on or used in preparing other foods. Most sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavour, texture, and visual appeal to a dish. ''Sauce'' is a French wor ...

. Although similar to

tartar sauce Tartar sauce (; often spelled tartare sauce in the UK, Ireland, and Commonwealth countries) is a condiment made of mayonnaise, chopped gherkins or relish, capers, and herbs such as tarragon and dill. Tartar sauce can also be enhanced with ot ...

, it is often more

yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In t ...

ish, sometimes flavored with

curry Curry is a dish with a sauce or gravy seasoned with spices, mainly derived from the interchange of Indian cuisine with European taste in food, starting with the Portuguese, followed by the Dutch and British, and then thoroughly internatio ...

, and often contains chopped

pickles Pickle, pickled or Pickles may refer to: Food * Pickle, a food that has undergone pickling * Pickled cucumber * Pickle, a sweet, vinegary pickled chutney popular in Britain, such as Branston Pickle, also known as "sweet pickle" or "ploughman's ...

or piccalilli. It can also contain

horseradish Horseradish (''Armoracia rusticana'', syn. ''Cochlearia armoracia'') is a perennial plant of the family Brassicaceae (which also includes Mustard plant, mustard, wasabi, broccoli, cabbage, and radish). It is a root vegetable, cultivated and us ...

paprika Paprika is a spice made from dried and ground red peppers, traditionally ''capsicum annuum''. It can have varying levels of Pungency, heat, but the peppers used for hot paprika tend to be milder and have thinner flesh than those used to produce ...

anchovies An anchovy is a small, common forage fish of the family Engraulidae. Most species are found in marine waters, but several will enter brackish water, and some in South America are restricted to fresh water. More than 140 species are placed in 1 ...

caper ''Capparis spinosa'', the caper bush, also called Flinders rose, is a perennial plant that bears rounded, fleshy leaves and large white to pinkish-white flowers. The taxonomic status of the species is controversial and unsettled. Species with ...

s and a host of other items. It is often used as a

condiment A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to enhance the Flavoring, flavour, to complement the dish or to impart a specific flavor. Such specific flavors generally add sweetness or pungency, or sharp or piquant ...

dipping sauce A dip or dipping sauce is a common condiment for many types of food. Dips are used to add flavor or texture to a food, such as pita bread, dumplings, crackers, chopped raw vegetables, fruits, seafood, cubed pieces of meat and cheese, potato ch ...

, primarily for sole,

plaice Plaice is a common name for a group of flatfish that comprises four species: the European, American, Alaskan and scale-eye plaice. Commercially, the most important plaice is the European. The principal commercial flatfish in Europe, it is ...

, and seafood cakes (such as

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura (meaning "short tailed" in Greek language, Greek), which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen#Arthropoda, abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the Thorax (arthropo ...

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

cakes) but also served with meats.

Use

Rémoulade is originally from France, but can now be found throughout Europe and in the United States, specifically in

Louisiana Creole cuisine Louisiana Creole cuisine (, , ) is a style of cooking originating in Louisiana, United States, which blends African cuisine, West African, French cuisine, French, Spanish cuisine, Spanish, and Native American cuisine, Native American influenc ...

. It is often used with

French fries French fries, or simply fries, also known as chips, and finger chips (Indian English), are '' batonnet'' or '' julienne''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin. They are prepared by cutting potatoes into even strips, drying them, and f ...

, on top of roast

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). Beef can be prepared in various ways; Cut of beef, cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often Ground beef, grou ...

items, and as a

hot dog A hot dog is a grilled, steamed, or boiled sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun. The term ''hot dog'' can also refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener ( Vienna sausage) or a frankfurter ( Frankfurter Würs ...

condiment, although there are many other applications around the world.

France

The sauce is made from mayonnaise with vinegar, mustard, shallots, capers, chopped pickles, and/or fresh herbs (chives, tarragon, chervil, burnet). It is commonly served as ''céleri remoulade'', a

mustard Mustard may refer to: Food and plants * Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment * Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment ** Mustard seed, small, round seeds of ...

-flavored remoulade variation with shredded raw

celeriac Celeriac (''Apium graveolens'' Rapaceum Group, synonyms ''Apium graveolens'' Celeriac Group and ''Apium graveolens'' var. ''rapaceum''), also called celery root, knob celery, and turnip-rooted celery (although it is not a close relative of the ...

. Often it is served as a condiment for red meats, fish, and shellfish.

Belgium

Rémoulade is often served with fries, such as those sold at roadside stands.

Denmark

In Denmark, it is an essential ingredient on open-face

roast beef Roast beef is a dish of beef that is roasted, generally served as the main dish of meal. In the Anglosphere, roast beef is one of the meats often served at Sunday lunch or dinner. Yorkshire pudding is a standard side dish. Sliced roast beef ...

sandwiches (''

smørrebrød (; originally , "butter and bread"), smørbrød "butter bread" (Norwegian language, Norwegian), or smörgås " butter goose" (Swedish language, Swedish), is a traditional Open sandwich, open-faced sandwich in the cuisine of Denmark, cuisines of ...

''), as well as the Danish version of fish and chips, fried

with fries. It is used on spring rolls, including soy sauce and ketchup. It is used with lemon (juice) on canned pressed cod roe on rye bread. It is also one of the essential condiments in a Danish hot dog. Danish remoulade is a modified version of the original French-style remoulade. It is a mayonnaise-based sauce, coloured brightly yellow with turmeric (or a pinch of curry powder), mixed with a purée of capers and pickled gherkins or cucumbers, and sometimes

cauliflower Cauliflower is one of several vegetables cultivated from the species '' Brassica oleracea'' in the genus '' Brassica'', which is in the Brassicaceae (or mustard) family. Cauliflower usually grows with one main stem that carries a large, rou ...

cabbage Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of '' Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.& ...

and

carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in colour, though heirloom variants including purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild ...

Germany

It is mainly used with fried fish, roast beef, or ''Sülze'', as an ingredient of potato salads, or as a boiled egg garnish (similar to deviled eggs). In the southern half of the country, it is served with boiled beef and potatoes.

Sweden

''Remouladsås'' or ''remoulade'' is a common condiment for fried or breaded fish dishes, also used as a topping on roast beef. The Danish version is also available and is used on a variety of dishes referred to as 'Danish-style', for example Danish hot dogs and Danish

Norway

Primarily served with deep-fried fish or on open-faced sandwiches.

Poland

Called ''remulada'', or rarely ''sos duński'' (Danish sauce), it is a very popular condiment for fast food, such as hot dogs, hamburgers, or

zapiekanka A ' (; plural: ', ) is a toasted open-face sandwich made of a sliced baguette or other long roll of bread, topped with sautéed Agaricus bisporus, white mushrooms, cheese and sometimes other ingredients such as ham. Served hot with ketchup, it ha ...

Iceland

''Remúlaði'' is a condiment commonly served with fried fish and on hot dogs, together with mustard, ketchup, and raw and fried onions.

United States

Remoulade is typically served as a condiment with seafood and certain vegetables. Fried

soft-shell crab Soft-shell crab is a culinary term for crabs that have recently molted their old exoskeleton and are still soft. Soft-shells are removed from the water as soon as they molt or, preferably, just before to prevent any hardening of their shell. Cat ...

sandwiches may be served with remoulade as the only sauce. It is also very commonly used as a condiment for sandwiches, especially turkey. Remoulade is most commonly paired with white cheese. It may be offered as a fry sauce as well. In

, remoulade tends to have a tannish or pink tint due to the use of Creole mustard, small amounts of ketchup, cayenne pepper, and paprika.

Varieties

Sauce rémoulade

French cuisine French cuisine is the cooking traditions and practices of France. In the 14th century, Guillaume Tirel, a Court (royal), court chef known as "Taillevent", wrote ''Le Viandier'', one of the earliest recipe collections of medieval France. In ...

, rémoulade is a derivative of the

mayonnaise Mayonnaise (), colloquially referred to as "mayo" (), is a thick, creamy sauce with a rich and tangy taste that is commonly used on sandwiches, hamburgers, Salad#Bound salads, bound salads, and French fries. It also forms the base for various o ...

sauce, with the addition of mixed herbs (

parsley Parsley, or garden parsley (''Petroselinum crispum''), is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to Greece, Morocco and the former Yugoslavia. It has been introduced and naturalisation (biology), naturalized in Eur ...

chive Chives, scientific name ''Allium schoenoprasum'', is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae. A perennial plant, ''A. schoenoprasum'' is widespread in nature across much of Eurasia and North America. It is the only spec ...

s, chervil and

tarragon Tarragon (''Artemisia dracunculus''), also known as estragon, is a species of perennial herbaceous plant, herb in the family Asteraceae. It is widespread in the wild across much of Eurasia and North America and is cultivated for culinary and medic ...

), capers, diced cornichons and, optionally, some

anchovy An anchovy is a small, common forage fish of the Family (biology), family Engraulidae. Most species are found in marine waters, but several will enter brackish water, and some in South America are restricted to fresh water. More than 140 speci ...

essence or chopped anchovies. The rémoulade used in céleri-rave rémoulade is different: it is based on a simple mustard-flavoured vinegar and oil dressing spiced with salt, pepper, and chopped green herbs.

Danish remoulade

Danish remoulade condiment has a mild, sweet-sour taste and a medium yellow color. The typical industrially-made variety does not contain capers, but finely-chopped

and pickled

cucumber The cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the family Cucurbitaceae that bears cylindrical to spherical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.mustard seed Mustard seeds are the small round seeds of various mustard plants. The seeds are usually about in diameter and may be colored from yellowish white to black. They are an important spice in many regional foods and may come from one of three diff ...

s, cayenne pepper,

coriander Coriander (), whose leaves are known as cilantro () in the U.S. and parts of Canada, and dhania in parts of South Asia and Africa, is an annual plant, annual herb (''Coriandrum sativum'') in the family Apiaceae. Most people perceive the ...

onion powder Onion powder is Drying (food), dehydrated, ground onion used as a seasoning. It is a common ingredient in seasoned salt and spice mixes, such as beau monde seasoning. Some varieties are prepared using toasted onion. White, yellow, and red onions m ...

, and

turmeric Turmeric (), or ''Curcuma longa'' (), is a flowering plant in the ginger family Zingiberaceae. It is a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous plant native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia that requires temperatures between and high ...

) mostly for color. The fresh herbs are replaced by herbal essences, e.g., tarragon

vinegar Vinegar () is an aqueous solution of diluted acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains from 5% to 18% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting ...

Starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diet ...

gelatin Gelatin or gelatine () is a translucent, colorless, flavorless food ingredient, commonly derived from collagen taken from animal body parts. It is brittle when dry and rubbery when moist. It may also be referred to as hydrolyzed collagen, coll ...

milk protein Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Milk contains many nutri ...

may be added as thickeners. Homemade or gourmet varieties may use olive oil (especially good with fish), capers,

, carrots, cucumber, lemon juice,

dill Dill (''Anethum graveolens'') is an annual herb in the celery family Apiaceae. It is native to North Africa, Iran, and the Arabian Peninsula; it is grown widely in Eurasia, where its leaves and seeds are used as a herb or spice for flavouring ...

, chervil,

or other fresh herbs, and possibly curry powder of various contents. In Denmark, remoulade is mostly used for french fries, hotdogs, spring rolls 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 Roux () is a mixture of flour and fat cooked together and used to thicken sauces. Roux is typically made from equal parts of flour and fat by weight. The flour is added to the melted fat or Cooking oil, oil on the stove top, blended until smoo ...

, 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

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 Celery (''Apium graveolens'' Dulce Group or ''Apium graveolens'' var. ''dulce'') is a cultivated plant belonging to the species ''Apium graveolens'' in the family Apiaceae that has been used as a vegetable since ancient times. The original wild ...

, and

; most are made with either Creole or stone-ground mustard.

Salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit (the peppercorn), which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diameter ...

, 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

. 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 Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...

hot sauce Hot sauce is a type of condiment, seasoning, or salsa (sauce), salsa made from chili peppers and other ingredients. Many commercial varieties of Mass production, mass-produced hot sauce exist. History Humans have used chili peppers and other ho ...

s, cornichons, and

Worcestershire sauce Worcestershire sauce or Worcester sauce (UK: ) is a fermented liquid condiment invented by pharmacists John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins in the city of Worcester in Worcestershire, England, during the first half of the 19th century ...

. While the classic white remoulade is a condiment that can be offered in a variety of contexts (e.g., the classic celery root remoulade), 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 (usually on a chiffonade of iceberg lettuce). One might also see

crawfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. Taxonomically, they are members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea. They breathe through feather-like gills. Some spe ...

remoulade, but restaurants seldom offer remoulade sauce as an accompaniment with fish, where

cocktail sauce Cocktail sauce, also known as seafood sauce, is one of several types of cold or room temperature sauces often served as part of a dish referred to as a seafood cocktail or as a condiment with other seafoods. The sauce, and the dish for which it i ...

and

are generally preferred. However, food columnist and cookbook author Leon Soniat does suggest to "Serve emoulade/nowiki> over seafood or with sliced asparagus." Central Mississippi has comeback sauce, a condiment that is very similar to Louisiana remoulade.

Notes

References

dictionary.reference.com

Tulane University Newcomb College Center for Research on Women Deep South Culinary Oral History Project

, This page contains images of what may be the first recipe of remoulade in print from the 1817 edition of ''Le Cuisinier Royal''.] {{French cuisine Danish cuisine French cuisine Occitan cuisine Cuisine of New Orleans Sauces Mayonnaise German cuisine Creamy sauces

Use