No. 625

Remoulade Sauce, Indian Style

Sauce Remoulade, a l'Indienne

Pound in a mortar four hard boiled egg-yolks, add to them two raw yolks, one spoonful of mustard, salt, pepper and the juice of two lemons, and a quarter of a gill of water in which a few saffron leaves have been infused and a quarter of a coffeespoonful of curry; strain all through a sieve and put the preparation into a bowl to stir and work in slowly one pint of sweet oil, and half a gill of vinegar, adding a teaspoonful of powdered sugar, some parsley, chervil, tarragon, chives and two shallots chopped and blanched, besides the hard boiled egg-whites cut into small squares.

← No. 624 Remoulade Sauce Cold Sauces No. 626 Remoulade Sauce Vert-Pre →

For the Modern Kitchen Do not make this as written.

A hard-yolk remoulade rather than a mayonnaise built on raw yolks alone — the cooked yolks do most of the emulsifying work, which is why a pint of oil holds together here. Add the oil in a thread and do not rush it.

Gills and spoonfulsA gill is half a cup, so a quarter gill of saffron water is 2 tablespoons and half a gill of vinegar is 1/4 cup. A coffeespoon is variously reckoned at a quarter to a half teaspoon, so a quarter of one is little more than a large pinch of curry powder.
Sweet oilNineteenth-century "sweet oil" is mild olive oil — bland rather than peppery. A neutral oil, or olive cut with neutral oil, is closer to Ranhofer's intent than a modern grassy extra-virgin, which will dominate a pint-sized emulsion.
Saffron leaves"Leaves" means the stigmas we call threads. Steep a small pinch in 2 tablespoons of hot water for ten minutes and use the liquid; the colour matters as much as the flavour.
The hingeSieve the yolk base thoroughly before any oil goes in, as the recipe directs. Grains of hard yolk left whole give a broken, grainy sauce, and it is far easier to sieve at this stage than to rescue the texture later.
Raw yolksThe two raw yolks are never cooked. Use pasteurized eggs or eggs in shell that have been pasteurized if serving anyone elderly, pregnant, very young or immune-compromised, and keep the finished sauce refrigerated and use it within a day or two.
Blanching the shallotsThirty seconds in boiling water, then drained and squeezed dry, takes the raw bite out. Wet shallots will thin the sauce, so dry them on a towel before they go in.
Curry powderCommercial curry powders of the period were generally turmeric-heavy and mild by modern standards. A modern hot Madras blend at the same quantity will overwhelm the herbs; taste and hold back.
Yield and servingA pint of oil plus the rest gives roughly 2 1/2 to 3 cups — enough for a large party. Halve or quarter it for household use. It is a cold sauce for cold meats, boiled or grilled fish, shellfish and cold chicken.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer's The Epicurean (1894) sets down the kitchen of Delmonico's in New York, and its cold-sauce chapter runs through remoulade in several forms. The name is French and older than the book; a remoulade is essentially a mayonnaise sharpened with mustard, vinegar and chopped fine herbs, and the classic version built on pounded hard-boiled yolks — as here. The tag à l'Indienne signals curry and saffron, part of the broad late-Victorian appetite for anglo-Indian seasoning in fashionable American restaurants; the curry powder in such a sauce may well have been a ready-made blend, and its job in a French kitchen was colour and warmth rather than heat.