Tartar sauce is one of those boundary-crossing recipes that every cuisine puts its personal stamp on: Cajun-Creole tartar sauce uses local hot sauce and Creole mustard, the standard American version is made with Best or Hellman’s mayo and Heinz pickle relish, most French versions use cornichons, those tiny, expensive pickled gherkins.
The name comes from “Tatar,” the French name for the rude, horseback-riding central Asian nomads — not because they actually ate tartar sauce with their raw horsemeat, but because to the French, the sauce’s assertive ingredients were somehow un-French and barbarous.
Tartar sauce should have an assertive sweet-sour-spicy kick, which accounts for its popularity in America, since we like sauces that fit that kind of flavor profile.
My twist on the standard recipe is to use a good amount of Meyer lemon juice and zest. Meyer lemons, which are in season for another few weeks or so, have, in addition to that tart citrus kick, a sweetness and aroma reminiscent of tangerines.
If you like the sauce on the sweeter side, make it with pickle relish. If you like it on the acidic side, use cornichons, which are made with more vinegar and less sugar than American gherkins.
Meyer Lemon Tartar Sauce
Serve this sauce with fried, poached or grilled white fish. Makes about 3 cups.
Ingredients
Juice and zest of 4 Meyer lemons
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons extra strong horseradish
Salt and pepper
2 cups neutral oil, such as canola, sunflower, safflower or rice bran
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 shallot, minced
¼ cup pickle relish or ¼ cup cornichons, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons capers, chopped
Few shots hot sauce
Directions
In the bowl of a food processor, combine Meyer lemon juice and zest, eggs, Dijon mustard, horseradish and salt and pepper. Mix 1 minute, then, with the motor running, slowly add the neutral oil to emulsify, then the olive oil. Pulse in the remaining ingredients. Refrigerate covered until ready to use.
