Tartar Sauce

Tartar sauce is a condiment that is often served with seafood dishes. It combines the creaminess of mayonnaise with the brininess of capers, the “pickle-y-ness” of pickles and the acidity of lemon, along with other seasonings like mustard, herbs, and some type of alium. It is often served alongside fried seafood like fish, shrimp, and calamari, but it is used worldwide on a number of different foods.

Tartar sauce is readily available in most grocery stores, but homemade is fresher and more flavorful; and it can be tweaked to your own preference. I find that when I realize that I need tartar sauce that I do not have in my pantry, I can whip up a homemade batch faster than it would take to run to the store. Homemade tartar sauce will not last as long as the preservative-laden, store-bought stuff. However, I use tartar sauce so infrequently that partially-used bottles just take up space until my next refrigerator purge, so there’s not really any shelf-life argument for buying the bottled stuff.

This recipe is what I refer to as an “aggregated recipe.” I didn’t invent tartar sauce – tartar sauce was invented long before I was invented. And there is not a definitive recipe for tartar sauce – there are a bazillion recipes on the web, and none of their authors invented tartar sauce either. I developed this recipe by comparing and contrasting several of others’ recipes, including what they all have in common, and then adding unique elements that seem to give the recipe a little panache.

This recipe is also what I would refer to as a “baseline recipe.” It’s as good a tartar sauce as can be found anywhere, but it can be easily altered by substituting or adding ingredients. Some alterations include:

• I’ve only ever made this with store-bought mayo, but it would probably taste even better with home-made mayo or aioli.
• an equivalent amount of minced dill pickles can be substituted for the relish.
• minced onions or chives can be used in place of the shallot.
• capers are a common ingredient, but minced briney olives can be used instead.
• lemon juice is another common ingredient, but an equivalent amount of white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or rice wine vinegar can be substituted to provide a different acidity.
• substituting dill or tarragon for the parsley will take the flavor in a different direction.
• The recipe can be made sweeter by adding sugar.  Stir in a teaspoon, taste, and repeat as necessary to get it to where you want it.
• The recipe can be made spicier by adding hot sauce.  Try 1/4 teaspoon at a time.

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Notes:

• A whole lemon will yield a lot more juice than the recipe calls for.  Because of this, I slice the lemon into wedges, squeeze only as much as is needed, and use the remaining wedges as a garnish for something else.