Deutsche Remoulade

Remoulade belongs beside Backfisch, fried fish, cold roast beef, boiled eggs, and a picnic plate with rye bread. In the north it leans toward fish: dill, parsley, capers, a little gherkin sharpness. In the west and on Sunday tables it often gets chopped egg and more chives, built for cold meat. Im Norden anders, im Süden anders. Good. That means people still care.

The whole sauce stands or falls on the emulsion. Add the oil slowly at the start, drop by drop, because egg yolk can only take in fat gradually before it thickens and steadies. Rush it and the sauce breaks into oily sadness. Once it has body, the rest of the oil can go in a thin stream. Erst verstehen, dann kochen.

The pickled things are not decoration. Gherkins, capers, mustard, and a spoon of brine are the German larder doing its work: acid, salt, crunch, and preservation brought back to the table. Nicht aus dem Glas, at least not the finished sauce. The cucumbers may come from the jar, the Remoulade doesn't.

Chop the herbs fine, dry the gherkins before they go in, and season at the end. The sauce should be cold, creamy, green-flecked, and sharp enough to cut fried batter. Schön ist, was schmeckt.