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Tartar sauce is a creamy sauce traditionally served with seafood, made with mayonnaise and pickle relish. It can be customized with other ingredients and used as a salad dressing. Its origins are unclear, but it dates back to the 1800s. It should be refrigerated and can last up to a week.
Tartar sauce is a thick, creamy sauce that is traditionally served with seafood, especially fried seafood. It can also be served with other fried foods, and some people like to use a version as a salad dressing. Many markets carry commercially prepared sauces, but they can also be made easily at home. Home cooks can manipulate ingredients at will, developing a product that meets their precise needs.
The history of tartar sauce is a bit tangled. It appears to have been developed by the French as a sauce for steak tartare, a popular French dish of thinly minced raw steak, and at some point the name was changed to “tartar.” In some regions of the world, people still use the French spelling. It appears to date back to the 1800s, although similar sauces were made as early as the 1600s.
The key ingredient in this sauce is mayonnaise, which is classically mixed with a pickle relish. Other ingredients such as capers, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, horseradish, chopped hard-boiled eggs, olives, vinegar, mustard and Worcestershire sauce may also be added, depending on regional taste and tradition. It is generally held thick, rather than being allowed to flow, so that it adheres to the food easily.
This sauce has a tangy, creamy, rich flavor. Mayonnaise keeps its fresh flavor, making it particularly suited to fried foods as a counterpoint, and when lots of acidic ingredients are added, tartar sauce can be almost cloying, a trait that some people like. It can be used as a dipping sauce or served directly over food, although the sauce can soften the breading on fried foods, making them soggy if left on too long. The sauce can also be tossed with greens to make a simple salad.
Most cooks recommend mixing the tartar sauce at least an hour before using and refrigerated it. This gives the flavors a chance to soften and mingle, with the seasoning being adjusted as needed before serving. The sauce should ideally stay refrigerated as much as possible to reduce the risk of foodborne illness, though the high acid level helps inhibit bacterial growth. It can last up to a week, with commercial versions including stabilizers that keep the product in good shape for weeks or months after opening.
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