Chef Thomas
Anchovy Sauce
A proper white sauce sharpened with pounded anchovy, the old Georgian trick for waking up a piece of poached fish or a slice of roast lamb on a Sunday in spring.
Culinary Explorer
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Tartare Sauce
Created by Chef Thomas
A proper tartare sauce, made with real mayonnaise and a handful of sharp little things, the only sauce worth spooning next to a piece of good fish on a Friday night.
Sauces & Condiments
British
Weeknight
15 min
Active Time
0 min cook•15 min total
YieldAbout 300ml, enough for 4
Friday evening. There's a piece of fish in the fridge, something simple, plaice or haddock or whatever the fishmonger had that looked bright-eyed and firm. It's going in a hot pan with butter in twenty minutes. But first, the sauce.
Tartare from a jar is one of those things I gave up on a long time ago. It tastes of vinegar and sugar and not much else, and it sits beside a piece of fish like an apology. Made at home, it's a different thing entirely. Real mayonnaise, glossy and pale, folded through with capers and gherkins and shallot and a small green snowstorm of parsley. Sharp, salty, herbal, rich. The kind of sauce that makes you want to eat it off the spoon.
Making mayonnaise from scratch sounds harder than it is. Two egg yolks, some mustard, a slow drizzle of oil, a whisk in your hand, and ten minutes of paying attention. That's the whole thing. The first time you do it and watch the yolks transform into something thick and glossy, you'll wonder why you ever bought it in a jar. I wrote it down in the notebook the first time it worked: "Mayonnaise. Friday. Plaice. Don't go back." I never did.
We're only making dinner. But this is the small, careful thing that turns dinner into something worth remembering.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
egg yolks
Quantity
2 large
at room temperature
Dijon mustard
Quantity
1 teaspoon
white wine vinegar
Quantity
1 teaspoon
sunflower or other neutral oil
Quantity
250ml
capers
Quantity
2 tablespoons
drained and roughly chopped
cornichons
Quantity
4 small
finely chopped
shallot
Quantity
1 small
very finely chopped
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
small handful
finely chopped
tarragon or chervil (optional)
Quantity
a few sprigs
finely chopped
lemon juice
Quantity
to taste
fine sea salt
Quantity
to taste
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| egg yolksat room temperature | 2 large |
| Dijon mustard | 1 teaspoon |
| white wine vinegar | 1 teaspoon |
| sunflower or other neutral oil | 250ml |
| capersdrained and roughly chopped | 2 tablespoons |
| cornichonsfinely chopped | 4 small |
| shallotvery finely chopped | 1 small |
| flat-leaf parsleyfinely chopped | small handful |
| tarragon or chervil (optional)finely chopped | a few sprigs |
| lemon juice | to taste |
| fine sea salt | to taste |
| black pepper | to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •Medium mixing bowl
- •Balloon whisk
- •Damp tea towel (to steady the bowl)
- •Sharp knife and chopping board
Instructions
- 1
Start the base
Put the egg yolks in a bowl with the mustard, the vinegar, and a small pinch of salt. Whisk them together until the mixture goes pale and slightly thick. This takes thirty seconds. The yolks need to be at room temperature, not cold from the fridge. Cold yolks fight the oil and the whole thing splits before it has a chance to come together.
Set the bowl on a damp cloth so it doesn't skid around the worktop. You'll need both hands free, one for the whisk and one for the oil. - 2
Build the mayonnaise
Now the oil. Start with a few drops at a time, whisking continuously. A few drops, whisk, a few drops, whisk. This is the slow bit and there's no shortcut. After the first couple of tablespoons have gone in and the mixture has thickened and looks glossy, you can start pouring in a thin steady stream, still whisking. Keep going until all the oil is in. The sauce should be thick enough to hold a shape on the whisk, pale yellow, and smell of nothing much yet. That comes later.
If it splits — and it might, the first time — don't panic. Start again with a fresh yolk in a clean bowl and whisk the split mixture into it slowly, the same way you added the oil. It comes back. - 3
Chop the bits
While the mayonnaise rests, chop everything else. The capers roughly, the cornichons fine, the shallot finer still. The parsley wants to be cut just before it goes in, not sitting on the board going dull. If you've got tarragon, a little goes a long way. Aniseedy and bright. Chervil is gentler, more like grass after rain. Either is good. Neither is essential.
- 4
Bring it together
Fold the chopped capers, cornichons, shallot, and herbs into the mayonnaise. Squeeze in some lemon. Taste. It should be sharp from the gherkins, salty from the capers, herbal, with the mayonnaise holding it all together in something thick and pale green-flecked. Season with salt and pepper. Then taste again. It almost always needs more lemon than you think.
Let it sit for ten minutes before serving if you can. The flavours pull together and the shallot loses its raw edge.
Chef Tips
- •Use a neutral oil for the mayonnaise, not olive oil. Extra virgin is too peppery and assertive here. Sunflower or rapeseed lets the capers and gherkins do the talking. Save the olive oil for the salad on the side.
- •Room temperature eggs. I cannot stress this enough. Cold yolks straight from the fridge are the single most common reason a mayonnaise splits. Take them out half an hour before you start. If you've forgotten, sit them in a bowl of warm water for five minutes.
- •If you're nervous about making mayonnaise from scratch, you can absolutely use a good shop-bought one and stir the capers and gherkins through that. It won't be quite the same, but it'll still be miles better than anything in a jar marked tartare. Start there. Build confidence. Try it from scratch next time.
- •This sauce belongs with fish, but don't stop there. Spoon it onto a baked potato. Spread it thickly in a sandwich with cold roast chicken. Serve it with chips. Once you have it in the fridge, you'll find reasons.
Advance Preparation
- •Tartare sauce can be made up to two days ahead and kept covered in the fridge. The flavours actually deepen overnight as the shallot mellows and the herbs settle in.
- •If you're making the mayonnaise base in advance, fold in the capers, gherkins, and herbs no more than a few hours before serving so the parsley stays bright and the shallot keeps its edge.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 75g)
Calories
540 calories
Total Fat
59 g
Saturated Fat
7 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
51 g
Cholesterol
95 mg
Sodium
365 mg
Total Carbohydrates
2 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
2 g
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