Shrimp Remoulade: Turning Ketchup & Mustard into a Gourmet Sauce

College students are perpetually on a budget. College students also love indulgent, satisfying...how do I put this? Drunk food - food that satisfies the rumblings of a belly already bloated with beer and a body exhausted from raging. Cooking for our friends at Tulane, at the pulse of inebriated New Orleans, we wondered: could we prepare affordable, high quality food to satisfy drunken, just-back-from-the-boot cravings?

The affirmative answer is rooted in two of the most basic elements of American fast food: ketchup and mustard. These sauces lay the flavorful foundation of remoulade, a potent marinade best offset by seafood. Remoulade is classic fare in New Orleans restaurants, from the high-scale Galatoire's to food trucks and street stands.

Like much cajun food, the appeal of shrimp remoulade is its powerful flavor. Horseradish, scallions, and parsley join the ketchup, mustard, and paprika, plunging together into a tempest of taste. The miracle of remoulade is that none of these assertive flavors dominates: while all vie for attention, none succeeds in taking center stage.

Shrimp remoulade requires very little cooking, but lots of time to marinate. The longer it marinates, the stronger and more well-integrated the flavors (think of a group of charismatic divas that need a little time to accept one another's prominence). Begin by grilling the shrimp; when they are fully cooked set them aside to cool while you make the sauce.

Because it can and should be prepared far in advance, this makes a great appetizer for an elaborate meal - simply put it out an hour before serving dinner, and you can focus all your energy on preparing the main entree. Similarly it is perfect for a midnight snack - coming home from a late night it is waiting for you in the fridge, succulently satisfying and even better delicious than it did when you made it.

Roughly chop several cups of vegetables: celery, scallions, parsley, and onion. This doesn't need to be precise by any means; the goal is simply to make them fit in the blender. For each of these, alter proportions to your own taste (for example, I think celery adds an important undertone to stabilize all the other violent flavors, so I would add more celery than onion) - the remoulade should be unique to the maker.

Puree the vegetables with between 1/4 and 1/2 cup each of: ketchup, tomato paste, coarse mustard, and red wine vinegar (again, the relative proportions are up to you, the chef, depending on which flavor you want to highlight most). Add two tablespoons each of horseradish, and paprika and one tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce. As you puree, it may be necessary to add a little vegetable oil to emulsify the ingredients.

Two ingredients that should not be added are salt and pepper - there are enough of these already in the other sauces!

Once the remoulade is smooth enough to treat as a sauce, throw it together with the shrimp in a bowl and refrigerate for at least several hours - though overnight is preferable.

Presentation deserves some thought here. Delicious though it may be, remoulade is not exactly beautiful in color. A leaf of lettuce contrasts well with the warm colors of the sauce and the shrimp, and purple cabbage or raddicchio adds the perfect flair to balance out this palette. The sauce is thick and messy, so be sure to provide diners with toothpicks (if it will be served from a buffet) or small forks (if it will be served seated). To serve it as an elegant appetizer, three can be arranged on each small plate.

...or, as I suggested in the introduction, if it is to be devoured by ravenous college students at 3am before passing out, several forks and plenty of napkins are all you'll need.