I really don’t know why I haven’t made this before.
Céleri rémoulade, a classic of French cuisine, is absolutely delicious. And it even improves in flavor, if not looks, over time. (You see, celeriac, also known as celery root, has a tendency to brown when it is exposed to air. You can minimize the effect by having the rémoulade dressing ready to go when you grate the celeriac, but after a few days in the fridge, chemistry wins.)
It’s also one of the easiest things I’ve ever made. I’ve never made it before, yet I dove right in, without even consulting a recipe. Remoulade is a mayonnaise-based sauce not unlike tartar sauce, which I do off-the-cuff anyway. So I winged it. Two or three heaping soup spoons of mayonnaise (I used store-bought, but I’m sure it would be even better with homemade), two coffee spoons of capers, chopped, a minced shallot, two heaping coffee spoons of grainy mustard, the leaves of about six stems of parsley, chopped, and several twists of black pepper from the mill. (You’ll notice I used curly parsley, but that’s only because I couldn’t find any flat-leaf at the store.) And that’s it for the dressing. Mix it all together, taste it, and then get going on the celery root.
Scrub and peel the celeriac, cut it into pieces that are manageable for your grater, and grate away. If I had my Cuisinart, you can be sure I’d use it to make fast work of the grating. Then simply mix the shredded celery root into the remoulade. It should be mostly vegetable – the dressing is just that: dressing. It shouldn’t be gloppy at all. In fact, when I was mixing it I wondered if maybe I should add more mayonnaise, but in the end I’m glad I didn’t.
And there you have it! A classic French appetizer salad. It’s certainly going to be a staple in my winter cooking repertoire, giving me just one more reason to look forward to this tasty root vegetable showing up in my CSA share.
On this day in 2008: Worthwhile French Beers: Les 3 Brasseurs
Originally published on Croque-Camille.
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One of our favorite French dishes! Though I never add capers…thanks for the idea.
Capers, mustard, and pepper. Yum!
(Would you believe I had celeri rmoulade in Paris… from a Monoprix tub? Slummin’ it is fun sometimes.)
I love celeri remoulade. I haven’t been able to convince the chef at our Bistro Des Copains to put it on the menu but I will keep trying. I find that if you add lemon juice to your remoulade that the celeri holds its white color longer.
Lovely! I really like celeriac and will have to give this a try.
I really want to make this over the weekend. Thanks Camille!
Thanks for the recipe and tips!
BTW family all very impressed with the roast pork with your spiced persimmon sauce I cooked last night. I find if I cook them what they call ‘normal food’ on the weekends, I can cook any old Chinese food I want during the week with fewer complaints 😉
Loulou – I guess that’s what happens when you don’t look at a recipe… 😉
Hannah – Nothing wrong with slumming it from time to time. 🙂
Michel – That makes sense, I’ll try that next time.
hungry dog – If you like celeriac, you will love this.
Tammy – You’re welcome!
Fiona – So glad you liked it!
I made celeri remoulade once last year when my curiosity really got the better of me. It tasted a bit too much like coleslaw for me. I’ve never eaten it in France, so I’m not quite sure how it is actually meant to taste. It wasn’t bad, or anything, just a bit meh.
Louise – I never made that connection, but then I also really like coleslaw! 🙂
Interesting. I can make this dish for my French group here in the states. Thanks for the recipe.
theveggie – You’re welcome! Enjoy!
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