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Tartare Sauce
2 egg yolks 1/2 cup olive oil 2 tablespoons tarragon vinegar 1/2 teaspoon mustard 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon powdered sugar Few grains cayenne Capers Pickles Olives Parsley 1/2 shallot finely chopped 1/2 tablespoon each chopped In making follow the directions as given for Mayonnaise, adding the pickles, capers, etc., before serving.
This is a mayonnaise variation, so the whole thing hinges on the emulsion the book describes elsewhere: the oil goes in drop by drop at first, into yolks that are at room temperature, or it will break. Everything else is chopping.
- The garnish measurementsThe list reads oddly. The most likely reading is that "1/2 tablespoon each chopped" governs the capers, pickles, olives and parsley above it: half a tablespoon each of those four, plus half a shallot, finely chopped. The line order in the original is ambiguous.
- Mustard means dry mustardIn cookbooks of this period "mustard" without qualification generally means dry powdered mustard rather than a prepared jarred mustard. Dry mustard also helps stabilise the emulsion, so it is usually worked into the yolks at the start rather than added at the end.
- Powdered sugarPeriod powdered sugar is finely ground sugar, sometimes with no starch added; modern confectioners' sugar contains cornstarch. A teaspoon of superfine sugar is closer to the original and dissolves without clouding the sauce.
- Tarragon vinegarStill sold, but if you have none, use white wine vinegar with a bruised tarragon sprig steeped in it for an hour. Straight distilled vinegar is too harsh for the quantity given.
- Drain the additionsCapers, pickles and olives all carry brine, and the water in it will thin or split a finished mayonnaise. Chop them, blot them dry, and fold them in just before serving as the recipe directs.
- Raw yolksThe sauce is never cooked. If you are serving anyone pregnant, elderly, very young or immune-compromised, use pasteurised eggs or pasteurised yolks.
- Yield and keepingRoughly three-quarters of a cup by the quantities given. Refrigerate and use within a day; the chopped aromatics dull quickly and the shallot turns sharp.
Sauce tartare belongs to the family of cold mayonnaise-based sauces codified in nineteenth-century French cooking. The name is usually connected to the French culinary label "a la tartare," though the derivation is debated and the Tatar association is traditional rather than documented. Tartare sauce was a common American accompaniment to fried fish in this period, and its appearance in an ordinary household book reflects how far restaurant French had filtered into domestic cookery.