Céleri Rémoulade
Raw celeriac cut into matchsticks and bound in a mustard-heavy mayonnaise. The most ordered starter in France and one of the least understood outside it.
Photograph credit: Celery remoulade by aghrivaine · CC BY 2.0 · Flickr
Celeriac browns within about two minutes of being cut, so it goes into acidulated water as you work or into the lemon juice directly — and the lemon is doing double duty, because it also begins to soften the matchsticks before the mayonnaise goes anywhere near them. The mayonnaise itself needs far more mustard than seems reasonable, a full two tablespoons, since raw celeriac is bland and slightly waxy and a gentle dressing simply disappears against it.
What People Ask
How long does Céleri Rémoulade take to make?
20 minutes of preparation and of cooking, plus 30 minutes of standing, so allow 50 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 6.
Photograph credit: Fried Razor Clams, crispy sweet potatoes from Beth Eccles, celery root remoulade,… by loustejskal.com · CC BY 2.0 · Flickr
Céleri Rémoulade: Step by Step
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Whisk the egg yolks with the mustard, vinegar and salt until thick and pale.
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Add the oil drop by drop at first, whisking constantly, then in a thin stream once the emulsion has taken. It should end up stiff.
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Peel the celeriac generously — the outer layer is woody — and cut it into 3 mm matchsticks, working quickly.
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Toss the matchsticks with the lemon juice as you go, so they never sit exposed to the air.
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Fold the celeriac into the mayonnaise with the pepper. It will look like too much mayonnaise and will not once it sits.
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Fold through the parsley and capers.
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Leave 30 minutes before serving so the celeriac softens slightly and takes up the dressing.
Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.
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Worth Getting Right
- Lemon on the celeriac immediately. It browns in about two minutes.
- Two full tablespoons of mustard. Less and it tastes of nothing.
- Let it sit half an hour before serving.
If You're Missing Something
- A dry vermouth keeps for longer than an open bottle of white wine and is the closer swap than a random white left in the fridge; for an alcohol-free version, use the same amount of stock with a squeeze of lemon.
What to Serve With It
Charcuterie · Baguette · A glass of dry white
Storage
Refrigerated for 3 days and better on day two. It does not freeze.
Céleri Rémoulade Nutrition
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
Cooked this? Keep a note for next time
Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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