A Saucy Story

It all started when I was browsing a menu for mother’s day at one of the local eateries (not one that serves quarter pounders) and under the crab cake, it said it was served with “Cajun Rémoulade”. That sort of caught my eye, and I allowed as how that was probably redundant. After a couple of conversations with more knowledgeable folk (believe it or not there are some), I decided I better check my facts. So, I set out to do some research. An interesting story unfolded (those MKF are probably rolling their eyes at the moment).

I started out with the most classical sources I have, James Peterson’s “Sauces”; Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art….”; and “Larousse Gastronomique”. The latter said it was a cold sauce which “may originate from the Picardy word rémola, meaning black radish, although radish is not an ingredient” , and the French origin was more or less confirmed by a quick look at Wikipedia (okay, okay). All three of those erudite sources agreed that it consisted of mayonnaise, chopped capers, anchovy paste, parsley/chervil/tarragon, and some mustard. It apparently is closely related to Sauce Tartare, except that that venerable sauce is made with hard egg yolk mayo instead of the regular mayonnaise, but generally the same stuff. Obviously, that ended my perception that Cajun and Rémoulade were redundant.

Jumping to more modern sources, I checked the CIA (Culinary, not the other one) “New Professional Chef”; “Joy of Cooking”, and happened to pick up a book sale find of “Modern French Culinary Art” by a Henri-Paul Pellaprat. The recipes therein still based the sauce on mayo, capers, cornichons/pickles, parsley/chervil/tarragon, some sort of anchovy, but each one now called for “French style” or Dijon mustard, and the CIA called for Worcestershire and Tabasco, so things had evolved.

At last turning to Cajun/Creole, I reminded myself that while Creole generally is defined as evolving from classical European style, “Cajun” came from the Acadians whose cuisine had roots in French provincial cooking using rustic ingredients, eventually blossoming in Louisiana. I looked in a couple of books by Jude Theriot (La Cuisine Cajun, and an earlier A Meilleure de la Louisiane), “Louisiana Cooking with Ambrosia” by Sebastian “Buster” Ambrosia; and a dog eared Charleston Receipts by the good ladies of the Junior League of Charleston. Gone was the mayo, instead olive or salad oil was used along with plain, cane, or wine vinegar. Of course we see the “holy trinity” so prevalent in Cajun, but along comes garlic, Creole mustard, horseradish, allspice, etc., drastically increasing the amount of ingredients. It would be interesting to know why the mayonnaise was abandoned, along with the anchovies, perhaps further research is required. With the advent of the food processor, the Cajun recipes are fairly easy to make providing you can find some of the ingredients. Basically put the stuff in the bowl, grind it up a bit and then dribble in the oil for the emulsification.

The recipe that I have used over the years came from a cooking class I attended in New Orleans some 18 years ago (where does that time go??) and I have found it to be relatively serviceable and people seem to like it with cold shrimp. My problem has been finding the “cane vinegar” it calls for, but I haven’t searched lately. I suppose there’s always the good old internet.

Bon Appétit

Sauce Rémoulade

1 Medium Onion
1 Bunch Green Onions
1 Stalk Celery
2 Cloves Garlic
¼ cup Parsley
1 Tbsp Paprika
¼ tsp. Cayenne Pepper
2 tsp. salt
½ cup Creole Mustard
2 Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
2 Tbsp Cane Vinegar*
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
4 Shakes Tabasco
¾ cup Oil (corn, vegetable, peanut, etc.)

Combine all ingredients except oil in food processor. Turn on and slowly dribble in oil. Allow flavors to marry for 24 hours or at least 20 minutes. Season to taste

Cookin' Cajun Cooking School
Riverwalk Festive Market Place
New Orleans, 9/91

Cook’s Notes:

*A substitute for cane vinegar (I have never been able to find it) is apple cider and red wine. For 1/04 I used cider vinegar and a splash of red wine. No comment on results.

Used Zatarain's Creole Mustard (Woodburns)

Pureed onion, celery, green onions (and some celery leaves) in processor, then took out a couple of Tbsp and added rest of stuff and turned on, used dribble cap to put in oil. Held out lemon juice till about half way through. When finished, I added back in the held out green puree for textural interest.

Also on occasion have added some ground up toasted yellow mustard seed per another recipe.