Gordon Ramsay's Secret Ingredient For Top-Notch Tartar Sauce

The ultimate fish and chips meal isn't quite the same without a side of exceptional tartar sauce. The creamy accompaniment typically served with crispy beer-battered ocean fare gives the dish a tangy pop that accents all the flavors in the recipe. It's a straightforward condiment that can be made in minutes. But, if you want to know how to level it up, who better to emulate than someone who has perfected every aspect of fish and chips: Gordon Ramsay.

Gordon Ramsay's hack for cutting onions is a lifesaver, but he's more acclaimed for taking humble ingredients and utilizing them to upgrade his Michelin-starred restaurants' menu items. In true Gordon Ramsay fashion, the tartar sauce that goes with his fish and chips isn't left unaltered. He uses hot sauce to enhance it and amazes customers worldwide with the harmonious flavors it imparts to the accompaniment, elevating what can be an otherwise modest cuisine. However, Ramsay's innovation isn't meant to overpower the dish with heat. On the contrary, the ingredients that constitute it offset the richness of tartar sauce and lend some real personality to the condiment.

Typically, tartar sauce is a simple combination of mayo, chopped pickles, capers, and a dash of herbs such as tarragon. It's savory and mildly sweet with a hint of tartness that cuts through the heavy batter on the fish. Ramsay takes his own approach to this simple concoction — as is his M.O.  — by substituting comparatively lavish ingredients like crème fraiche and shallots (not onions) in his recipe, but the hot sauce is the difference maker. It adds a subtle hint of heat, but it's really all about the flavors in the hot sauce that make his tartar first-rate.

Hot sauce used as a condiment on its own can spice things up in a hurry, but when it's utilized in various recipes, the sometimes unremarked ingredients within get a chance to sing. Tartar sauce is rich, which is the reason it pairs so well with the delicate, white-fleshed fish often used in fish and chips. The vinegar in most hot sauces will cut into the tartar sauce's savory creaminess and balance its overall profile. It also imparts an intricate mosaic of chilis that can bring the heat if enough is included. But, with a steady and measured hand, just the right amount creates a symphony of flavors that doesn't distract from the main course.