A tasty, tangy and spicy tartar sauce with personality. Loaded with colorful textures and flavors – yum!
I imagined slathering Salmon and Crab Cakes with a tangy sauce ~ inspired by the colorful vegetables available now at farmers’ markets in late summer. This extra burst of heat in September is producing bumper crops of healthy vegetables ~ a little more rainfall and this fabulous season could last well into October.
This creole tartar sauce is simple to make , use the best quality mayonnaise or make your own. I enjoy “Just Mayo”, a new mayonnaise that is vegan. Did you know that most commercial tartar sauces include high fructose corn syrup (ugh) and many preservatives? To create this sauce blend in your favorite hot sauce, creole grainy mustard, garlic, scallions (search out red scallions at farmers’ markets), peppers, chopped cherry tomatoes , parsley, and my favorite touch – slow-roasted cherry tomatoes. Slow roasting tomatoes condenses their flavor and brings forward their natural sweetness. Roast a pint, and create your next recipes with them!
Serve this sauce over spiced and blackened salmon steaks (see recipe), or with crab cakes. Delicious too with crisp calamari rounds or crunchy fried clams. I dolloped the sauce over the warm salmon, and the underneath melted a bit… simply divine!
Some Tartar facts:
The name derives from the French sauce tartare, named after the Tartars (Ancient spelling in French of the ethnic group: Tartare). In England it’s “tartare’… US it’s spelled “tartar. “
The base of Remoulade sauce is similar to Tartar sauce – it usually includes anchovies, capers and herbs.
In the UK tartar sauce also is found to contain gherkins, tarragon and lemon juice. The US version is a simpler version with pickles or prepared green relish mixed in to the mayonnaise.
The sauce keeps it cool in flavor, making it especially suitable for fried foods as a counterpoint, and when lots of acidic ingredients are added, tartar sauce can be almost mouth-puckering, a trait that some people enjoy. It can be used as a dipping sauce or served directly on food, although the sauce can soften the breading on fried foods, making it soggy if it sits too long.
Enjoy!
Karen
