Maille Cornichon Recipe Ideas and Inspiration

We're sharing 3 recipes perfect for entertaining with the versatility of a cornichon, smaller and crunchier with a characteristic acidity, lending themselves well to their unique and slightly sour taste.

Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by Maille. All opinions are our own.

One of our favourite things to serve when entertaining are stylized boards. Whether it's a BBQ board, a charcuterie board, or a Mezze board, there's an art form to curating a collection of ingredients that pair well and offer a variety of flavours and texture.

But no matter what type of guest we're serving or what kind of board we're building there's one ingredient that always seems to make its way into crevices, diced and strewn over a dip or strictly used for crunch factor; the pickled cornichon.

More refined than pickles, cornichons are smaller and crunchier with a characteristic acidity that lends them their unique, slightly sour taste. Once these petite, nubby, green guys are harvested, they're preserved in vinegar with mustard seeds and herbs to ensure maximum freshness and their signature crisp. While we're obsessed with Maille's L'Original Cornichon for their flavourful bite on cheese boards, we're sharing a few other recipes using their other varieties of cornichons perfect for summer entertaining or crunchy night in.

Secret Sauce with Chopped Cornichons and Pickle Juice

Fast food in a pickle! Like the ever famous Big Mac, cornichons are the key ingredient in making that tangy, sweet and sour sauce glazed over a bun and topped with two patties, cheese and lettuce. A take on the traditional Mac sauce, mix together 2 parts mayo and 1 part ketchup with chopped gherkins, minced onions and a splash of cornichon juice. Try using Maille's Caramelized Onion Corcnichon as the sweetness of sautéed onion and delicate fruit adds to the sweetness of the sauce.

Cornichon Potato Salad

In a pickle and don't know what to bring to BBQ potluck? Make a classic potato salad and mix in a handful of chopped gherkins. Boil potatoes, add red onion, diced gherkins, mayo, pickle juice and vinegar, plus salt and pepper to taste. The perfect recipe for Maille's newest Cayenne Pepper Cornichons, created exclusively for the Canadian palate, the spicy notes add a layer of bang to every bite of potato.

Bagel Bar with Cornichons

In a brunch pickle? Make a build your own bagel bar accompanied with fresh Montreal bagels, 3 types of cream cheese (or smear), meats like prosciutto and smoked salmon, veggies and gherkins. We suggest pairing your board with Maille's Mild and Sweet Cornichons, sweet and soft on the palate and not going to overpower the other flavours from your board.