Chef Joost
Appelcompote
Appelcompote is the apple left with its dignity: soft enough to spoon beside pork or potatoes, still chunky enough to remind you autumn did the real work.
Culinary Explorer
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Remouladesaus (Dutch Fish-Stall Remoulade)
Created by
Mayonnaise becomes properly Dutch at the fish stall: sharpened with mustard, brightened by augurk and caper, then handed across the counter to make fried fish taste of the quay.
Sauces & Condiments
Dutch
Weeknight
Dinner Party
15 min
Active Time
0 min cook•45 min total
Yield250ml, enough for 4 servings
At a Dutch fish stall, the sauce tells you where you are before the fish does. The paper tray of kibbeling, battered white fish cut into hot little pieces, is only half the transaction. The other half is the cold spoonful in the corner: pale, sharp, freckled with augurk (gherkin) and caper, waiting to make the fryer behave itself.
But let me tell you a secret. Remouladesaus wears a French name, but at the viskraam (fish stall) it speaks excellent Dutch. The old French remoulade carried mustard, vinegar, herbs, capers, and the bite of pungent roots before mayonnaise softened the whole business into something more sociable. The Dutch version kept the useful part: acid, salt, and mustard to cut through fried fish so the cod, haddock, or whiting tastes of the quay rather than merely of batter.
There is no grandeur here, for obvious reasons. You chop, you stir, you wait half an hour. Hou het altijd simpel, always keep it simple. The only real rule is this: keep texture in the sauce. Chop the pickle and capers finely, but don't turn them to paste, because the little crunch against the fish is the point. A dish without its story is half a meal, and sometimes the story fits in a bowl small enough to pass across the table.
The name remoulade comes through French cookery, where the sauce was associated with mustard, vinegar, capers, herbs, and pungent grated roots before the modern mayonnaise-based form became common. In the Netherlands its most familiar popular home is the twentieth-century viskraam (fish stall), where cold remouladesaus is served with kibbeling, once made from cod cheeks and trimmings and now usually battered pieces of cod or other white fish. The useful lesson is that the sauce is not decoration: its acid, salt, and mustard are what make fried North Sea fish taste clean.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
good mayonnaise
Quantity
200g
Zaanse or Dijon mustard
Quantity
1 tablespoon
pickled gherkins (augurken)
Quantity
50g
finely chopped
capers
Quantity
1 tablespoon
rinsed and chopped
shallot
Quantity
1 small
very finely minced
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
1 tablespoon
finely chopped
fresh dill
Quantity
1 tablespoon
finely chopped
lemon juice
Quantity
1 teaspoon
gherkin brine
Quantity
1 teaspoon
sugar (optional)
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
white pepper
Quantity
to taste
fine sea salt (optional)
Quantity
only if needed
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| good mayonnaise | 200g |
| Zaanse or Dijon mustard | 1 tablespoon |
| pickled gherkins (augurken)finely chopped | 50g |
| capersrinsed and chopped | 1 tablespoon |
| shallotvery finely minced | 1 small |
| flat-leaf parsleyfinely chopped | 1 tablespoon |
| fresh dillfinely chopped | 1 tablespoon |
| lemon juice | 1 teaspoon |
| gherkin brine | 1 teaspoon |
| sugar (optional) | 1/2 teaspoon |
| white pepper | to taste |
| fine sea salt (optional) | only if needed |
Equipment Needed
- •Small mixing bowl
- •Sharp knife
- •Spoon or rubber spatula
Instructions
- 1
Chop the sharp things
Chop the augurken, capers, shallot, parsley, and dill by hand, as small as patience allows. The sauce should have little bright interruptions, not great lumps that fall off a piece of kibbeling before it reaches your mouth.
- 2
Stir the base
In a small bowl, stir the mayonnaise with the mustard, lemon juice, gherkin brine, white pepper, and the optional sugar. Taste it now. It should be creamy first, then sharp, with the mustard arriving after the lemon.
- 3
Fold it together
Fold in the chopped gherkins, capers, shallot, parsley, and dill. Do this with a spoon, not a blender. A blender makes a pale green paste, and remouladesaus should still show you what is inside it.
If your capers are packed in heavy brine, rinse them briefly and pat them dry. The sauce wants caper brightness, not a spoonful of salt water. - 4
Rest and taste
Cover and chill the sauce for at least thirty minutes. This is not fussing; the mustard and pickle need time to settle into the fat of the mayonnaise. Taste again before serving, and add salt only if the gherkins and capers have not already done the work for you.
Chef Tips
- •Use mayonnaise you enjoy on its own. If it tastes too sweet or thin from the jar, the finished sauce will taste like sandwich filling instead of a fish-stall remoulade.
- •Zaanse mustard gives a nicely Dutch bite, but Dijon is an honest substitute. Avoid sweet mustard here; the gherkin already brings enough roundness.
- •Make it at least thirty minutes ahead. Overnight is even better, though after three days the herbs lose their clean green taste.
- •Serve it cold with kibbeling, lekkerbekje (fried fish fillet), fried mussels, boiled potatoes, or a plate of cold poached fish.
Advance Preparation
- •Can be made one day ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator.
- •Keeps up to three days chilled. Stir before serving and always use a clean spoon.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 80g)
Calories
355 calories
Total Fat
38 g
Saturated Fat
6 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
32 g
Cholesterol
20 mg
Sodium
560 mg
Total Carbohydrates
3 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
1 g
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