In Good Taste #79: Celeriac kraut remoulade
Krautifying the classic side dish; free N16 workshops; Jordan Brookes
Well, hello there! How are you?
Good I hope.
(Not up for the chitchat? Completely get it. Click the email title to go to a web-based version then jump straight to the recipe or Cultural Fun.)
As I’m sure those of you with children are aware, it’s half term. I am child-free but married to a teacher so my life still revolves around school holidays. My brother and his three kids have been staying for a few days and I hubristically thought I would have time to check and send this newsletter yesterday. Apologies that that was not the case.
Free kraut workshops
Tomorrow I’ll be running some free kraut-making workshops at the St Mary’s Eco Fair in Stoke Newington as part of the Growing Communities team. Each session will be 20-30 minutes long and you’ll get to take away your own personalised jar of kraut.
I’ll be doing as many sessions as I can between 1pm and 4pm. Growing Communities will supply the veg, so just bring along a clean jar (something around 500ml) and join in!
Recipe: Celeriac kraut remoulade
There are some French dishes that are so simple they are almost laughable. Yet mess with them at your peril as that simplicity is perfection.
The first time I saw carottes râpées on a menu I was astounded. People pay just for grated carrots? But they do because simply but judiciously dressed in olive oil, lemon juice and herbs they are delicious.
The French green salad is the same. Just butter lettuce and vinaigrette. So plain it seems boring. But then you eat it and it’s the best salad you’ve had in ages. No faff. No flash. Understated Gallic class. The salad equivalent of Coco Chanel taking off one piece of jewellery before leaving the house.
Ditto celeriac remoulade, a dish whose charm lies in the contrast between shreds of sweetly nutty celeriac and a creamy but acidic dressing, punchy with Dijon mustard. It doesn’t need improving upon.
And yet… there are so many celeriac knocking around in my veg bags recently I thought why not give it a go? Not an improvement, merely a little twist, swapping the lemon juice or vinegar from the mustardy dressing for the lactic acid in a lightly fermented kraut of celeriac.
For the kraut
1 celeriac, washed and thoroughly peeled (approx 500g)
flaky sea salt
For the remoulade
2 tablespoons mayonnaise (homemade or good quality bought)
2 tablespoons full-fat yoghurt or crème fraîche
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon preserved lemon purée or lemon zest
small bunch tarragon, leaves picked and roughly chopped
Method
Julienne the celeriac. I did this using a mandoline to create thin slices, then stacked those up and cut them into matchsticks. But you could use a julienne peeler instead. The French tend to use a mouli or rotary grater but I wouldn’t try using a box grater instead unless yours has very large holes - I find it gives too pulpy a result. No nutty bite.
Weigh the celeriac and add salt. Put a large bowl on a scale and set it to zero. Add the celeriac and weigh. Calculate 2.5% of this weight (divide by 100 and multiply by 2.5) and add this much flaky sea salt. Toss it through to distribute evenly.
Leave until a brine is created. Leave for about 30 minutes. After this time you should find a small puddle of brine (a few tablespoons-worth) at the bottom of the bowl. If not, massage the celeriac strands vigorously for a minute or so.
Pack and seal. Put everything in a jar, tamping it down really well to get rid of any air pockets and add any brine from the bowl. Use a glass or ceramic pickle weight, a sandwich bag filled with water or half an onion to keep the veg strands pushed under the brine. Close the jar.
Leave to ferment, checking regularly. Put the jar somewhere at room temperature but out of direct sunlight and leave it. Every few days open it up to let out any gas that has collected and to taste a little celeriac. You’re not looking for a full-on pickle but the point where the sweetness of the fresh celeriac is balanced by lactic acid. This will probably take just under a week.
Make the salad. Once the kraut is ready you can make the finished dish. Put the mayonnaise, yoghurt, mustard and preserved lemon purée/zest in a bowl and mix well. Empty the celeriac kraut into a sieve or colander to drain off any brine then add to the dressing. Mix well, add the tarragon and mix again. Taste for seasoning. Add salt and pepper or more mustard or lemon to taste. Serve immediately.
Notes (If Ifs And Ands Were Pots And Pans…)
Julienned apples would be a nice addition to the salad if you wanted a bit of sweetness.
Mess with tradition even more and instead of matchsticking the celeriac use a peeler to create ribbons. It’s the same technique used in my ribboned carrots and golden beet kraut. I really like the textural effect of this.
I ate mine with some roast salmon, braised greens and a well-buttered baguette but it’s also perfect with a bit of dry-cured ham: Bayonne is most traditional being French but Parma is probably easier to get hold of.
Cultural Fun
We saw Jordan Brookes’s show Fontanelle at the Soho Theatre the other day and loved it. Ostensibly a musical about the Titanic it’s kind-of-really about men’s vulnerability. Brookes himself is simultaneously disarming and unnerving; sexually charismatic but self-deprecating. Not recommended to the easily-offended but very good!
Bye! See you next week!
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