Remoulade

French remoulade is a mayonnaise-based sauce with capers, cornichons, and herbs — cold, white, refined. New Orleans remoulade shares the name and almost nothing else. Creole remoulade is built on Creole mustard, not mayonnaise — it is tan-to-pink, aggressively mustard-forward, spiced with cayenne, paprika, and horseradish, and served as a sauce for cold boiled shrimp, crabmeat, or fried seafood. The departure from the French original is so complete that a French chef confronted with New Orleans remoulade might not recognise the relationship. Arnaud's Restaurant — whose shrimp remoulade has been served since Arnaud Cazenave opened the restaurant in 1918 — established the standard that most New Orleans restaurants follow.

A thick, mustardy, spiced sauce — tan to reddish-orange depending on the paprika quantity — served cold over boiled shrimp bedded on shredded lettuce, or as a dipping sauce for fried seafood. The flavour is sharp mustard (Creole mustard base), vinegar, horseradish, paprika, cayenne, garlic, and green onion. The texture should be thick enough to coat the shrimp without sliding off. It should taste assertive, bright, and peppery — not creamy, not mild, not mayonnaise-like.

Remoulade is a first-course sauce. It goes on cold shellfish or fried appetisers. Its assertiveness is designed to open the meal — the mustard and horseradish stimulate appetite. What follows: gumbo, a fish entrée, something substantial. Remoulade is the door through which you enter a New Orleans meal.