Tartare sauce
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Tartare sauce (British English spelling) or Tartar sauce (US English spelling) is a thick white sauce made from mayonnaise and finely chopped vegetables, usually including pickled gherkins, capers, olives and pickled onions. It is is frequently used to season fried seafood dishes. It can also be made by mixing commercially produced relish and mayonnaise.
Tartare sauce is not to be confused with Cream of tartar, which is the potassium salt of tartaric acid.
The name derives from the Tatar tribes of Mongolia; in French, the word "tartar" loosely translates as "rough", as the sauce is typically of a rough consistency.
Trivia
"Tartar sauce!" is also used as an exclamation by SpongeBob SquarePants in the cartoon series of the same name, usually when something untoward has happened or is about to happen.
External Links
- An explanation of the name's origin, from The Straight Dope (http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mtartar.html)
- A recipe at Delia Smith's Deliaonline.com (http://www.deliaonline.com/cookeryschool/howto/how_0000000051.asp)
- A definition at Allrecipes.com (http://allrecipes.com/advice/ref/ency/terms/8847.asp)