Name: Remoulade Sauce
Ingredients: 1 pint mayonnaise; 1 large tablespoon mustard; 1 large tablespoon gherkins, chopped; 1 large tablespoon capers, chopped and pressed; 1 tablespoon fine herbs (parsley, chervil, tarragon), chopped; 1 teaspoon anchovy essence

Why it works: Chervil and tarragon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 824 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Remoulade Sauce

Ingredients

1 pint mayonnaise
1 large tablespoon mustard
1 large tablespoon gherkins, chopped
1 large tablespoon capers, chopped and pressed
1 tablespoon fine herbs (parsley, chervil, tarragon), chopped
1 teaspoon anchovy essence

Directions

In a bowl, combine the mayonnaise, mustard, gherkins, capers, and fine herbs, then mix well until all ingredients are thoroughly combined.
Stir in the anchovy essence.
Serve with cold meat, poultry, or lobster.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Chervil + tarragontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together824 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Capers + cherviltop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together135 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Mustard + caperstop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together624 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Capers + tarragontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together379 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Parsley + tarragontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,563 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Mayonnaise: Forms the creamy base and provides fat and body for the sauce.
Mustard: Adds sharpness that cuts through the richness of the mayonnaise.
Gherkins: Contribute acidity and a crisp, tangy bite.
Capers: Add briny acidity and a sharp, savoury punch.
Anchovy essence: Adds deep savoury, umami flavour that rounds out the sauce.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mustard, capers, chervil, tarragon, anchovy):

Parsleythe original
Fennelfits about as well
Thymefits less well
Dillfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against mustard, capers, chervil, tarragon, anchovy. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.