Polish tartar sauce: finely chopped, squeezed dry, as thick as it should be
A classic of the Polish holiday table: mayonnaise with very finely chopped pickled cucumbers, pickled mushrooms, egg and chives, sharpened with mustard. The whole secret of its thickness is squeezing the brine out of the additions before mixing; skip that and the sauce soon weeps brine and turns runny. Two small jars, for fish, meat and sandwiches.
Your own work in that: 15 min.
- Chopping 10 min
- Mixing 5 min
- Resting 60 min
Step by step
0 / 4 doneChop very finely
Cut the cucumbers, mushrooms, eggs and onion into 3 mm dice with a knife, not a food processor. A processor turns everything to pulp and squeezes out juice; a knife gives a sauce in which every ingredient is distinct.
Ingredients: 300 g mayonnaise · 4 pcs pickled cucumbers · 150 g pickled mushrooms from a jar · 2 pcs eggs · ½ pcs onion · 2 tsp medium-hot mustard · ½ bunch chives · 1 tsp sugar · ½ tsp black pepper · ½ pcs lemon, juice
Three-millimetre dice, by knifeSqueeze the additions
Put the diced cucumbers and mushrooms in a sieve and press with a spoon to release the brine. Cover the onion with boiling water for a minute and squeeze it too: it mellows. This step decides whether the sauce stays thick.
TipDon't throw the drained brine away: a spoonful goes back in at the end if the sauce is too thick or too bland.
Pressed in a sieve, brine poured offMix
Stir the mayonnaise with the mustard, sugar, pepper and lemon juice. Add all the chopped ingredients and the chives and fold together. Taste: the sauce should be clearly sharp and tangy, because it is served with rich food.
Mayonnaise, mustard, everything togetherChill
Spoon into small jars and refrigerate an hour, ideally overnight: the flavours marry and the sauce thickens. Keeps up to 4 days in the fridge.
An hour in the fridge, a night is better
Before you start
With capers
A spoon of chopped capers and half a teaspoon of grated horseradish: sharper, closer to French sauce tartare, excellent with fried fish.
Lighter
Half mayonnaise, half thick Greek yogurt. Less rich, but eat within 2 days: yogurt separates sooner.
Without egg
Skip the eggs and add half as many mushrooms again. The sauce stays thick. For anyone allergic to egg that is not enough, though: ordinary mayonnaise contains egg too, so use an egg-free (vegan) mayonnaise.