Tartare Sauce

Ingredients

• 2 egg yolks, raw
• 120 ml olive oil, pure
• 3 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tbsp mustard, made
• 1 tsp sugar
• 0.25 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp onion juice
• 1 tbsp capers, chopped
• 1 tbsp cucumber pickle, chopped

Method

Tartare sauce is emulsification built on raw egg yolk. The yolk contains lecithin, which binds fat and water into a stable suspension — the same principle that governs mayonnaise, though tartare runs thinner and more piquant. This is the controlling idea: you're not making mayo with additions, you're making a calibrated emulsion that can tolerate acid without breaking.

Place the two yolks in a clean bowl — any water or shell fragment will split the emulsion. Begin whisking on the spot to break the yolks fully before you touch the oil. Add the olive oil one drop at a time for the first 30 ml, whisking between each addition. The yolk will thicken visibly and pale slightly. Once the mixture has taken on a glossy, thick texture — roughly when you've incorporated half the oil — you can increase to a steady, thin stream whilst whisking. This is the moment of commitment: the emulsion is stable enough now to tolerate speed. If at any point the sauce looks broken or splits into a slick, grainy puddle, start fresh with a clean yolk and slowly whisk the broken sauce into it to rescue the fat.

When the oil is fully incorporated and the sauce coats the back of a spoon, add the vinegar slowly — not all at once. The acid will thin the emulsion slightly but won't break it if you go gently. Whisk in the mustard, which acts as a secondary condiment and secondary emulsifier, then the sugar (a pinch of seasoning and a buffer against the sharp edges of vinegar), salt, pepper, and onion juice. Taste now. The sauce should have a bright, savoury backbone with a faint sweetness holding the corners up. The colour will be pale cream with a faint yellow tint.

Fold — literally fold with a spatula, not whisk — the chopped capers and pickled-vegetables|cucumber pickle into the finished sauce. Whisking will tighten it further and risk overworking the emulsion. The pickles are textural contrast and a final acidic punch that marks the sauce as tartare rather than plain mayonnaise. Serve at room temperature or chilled alongside fish, particularly flaked white fish and fish|smoked fish, where its sharp, briny character cuts through richness.