Tartare sauce…and more.
I love tartare sauce. Actually, half the reason I get fish & chips is for the tartare sauce. But I’ve grown sick of the disgusting green stuff that you get in jars.
Luckily, one of the things I learned to make in New Zealand was tartare sauce from scratch, The basics, I was told, is as follows:
- Fine mince parsley, a bit of white onion, and some pickles (proportions to taste, but roughly 1:1:1).
- Mix with salad dressing – I haven’t yet found the North American version of this: It’s a white cream savoury emulsion, but it’s not Miracle Whip or mayonnaise, which are a bit overly tasty. “Salad Dressing” is blander and much more versatile.
And there you have it. Real tartare sauce that doesn’t look like mouldy green gunge.
However, one day in preparation for Friday morning tea I was tired of making brownies, and I thought, hey! I’ll make tartare sauce, but turn it into a dip. So I mixed in equal parts of yoghurt and sour cream with the salad dressing, and also added salt, pepper, and a dab of chili sauce. And it was really good!
When I came back I tried it with my homemade mayonnaise…which is just a wee bit rich for my tastes, so I’ll have to experiment to make it lighter again. But this has now become my go-to dressing and dip, for veggies, tortillas, sandwich spread, or whatever.
My next project: Hummous. Any nice dips you’d like to share?
– Jean AAR
LinnieGayl – Chuckle. Your way probably works too. I googled “salad dressing New Zealand”, and the only thing I saw contained lots of condensed milk…which doesn’t sound right, although it’s definitely sweeter than the NA alternatives.
Missie – I somehow never got into malt vinegar with my F&C. I’m a hound for tartare sauce.
This is similar to how I make my tartar sauce (‘though I have light Miracle Whip or light mayo) and it’s the ONLY tartar sauce I like — I never eat tartar sauce otherwise…’though my favorite way with fish and chips is still lashings of malt vinegar :-)
Jean, I have never attempted to make homemade tartare sauce, and until I read your recipe, didn’t have a clue. I would have just mixed pickle relish with jarred mayo. You have me very intrigued by the notion that the mayo/salad dressing we buy in the U.S. isn’t the kind you bought. I wonder what the difference is?