Celeriac Remoulade or how to turn an ugly winter vegetable into a luscious salad.
Celeriac remoulade is a very loved and appreciated starter in France. Served in school, work cantines and brasseries, it is also a common dish that you can buy at a butcher deli counter. If you grew up in France or lived there, you must have had it at some point.
There is a variety of ways to do I: from how to make the best remoulade sauce to how to prepare the celeriac. Every time I make it, I think of my grandfather who’d make it all from scratch and julienne the celeriac – spending far too much time in the kitchen fussing over his knife skills according to my grandmother. She would have made a dinner for 10 in the same amount of time!
Anyways, one day I will attempt my grandfather’s version; in the meantime, I’ll stick to my “deli” version because it is what I know and prefer.
The only important thing is to only make it in late autumn and winter. Celeriac is a winter root vegetable (UK/Europe). You can find it in shop the rest of the year but it’ll be hollow and its taste will have waned.
Ingredients:
Serves 4/6
- 800 g celeriac (if bigger just keep the extra for mash, stew or stock)
- 1 lemon – juiced
- 3 x heaped tbsp spoon of mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp yogurt (optional)
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp water
- A sprinkle of parsley (optional)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Peel the celeriac. It a tough job so be careful with your fingers (I know from experience). Grate the celeriac into a bowl and mix with the juice of the lemon as soon as possible. The celeriac will turn brown otherwise.
In another bowl, mix mayo, yogurt, mustard, water to make the “remoulade”. Add to the celeriac and mix well. Add some pepper and a little sprinkle of parsley. Best to eat the following day as the celeriac will have marinated in the remoulade and become soft.
Notes:
- Mayonnaise: I use very generic shop bought mayo –Hellmans is just fine. Please go ahead use a homemade mayo if you like.
- Mustard: sorry must be French, preferably Dijon.
- Grating grade: I used a boxed grater on the larger side but later upgraded to a robot grating tool.
Again, you are more than welcome to julienne the celeriac, then I would suggest you blanche the celeriac briefly.
- Remoulade sauce: I personally like to add a little yogurt to balance the heaviness of the mayonnaise. Some people like to add crème fraiche instead.
- You can also ask some finely chopped capers or/and gherkins. You can also add celery seeds, apples or/an some finely grated celery branches.
Serve with:
It is a starter. However, I often have it with grilled meat. If you want to make a little special, you can make a trio of crudités – grated carrots & cucumber salad.
It is a dish that keeps very well for a few days in the fridge. In fact, I prefer it a couple of days after I made it. It is a preparation that will also mix well with a few leaves of crisp romaine lettuce.
