{"id":6022,"date":"2012-08-02T10:36:21","date_gmt":"2012-08-02T14:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/?p=6022"},"modified":"2012-08-03T10:41:37","modified_gmt":"2012-08-03T14:41:37","slug":"the-basics-of-tartar-sauce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/2012\/08\/the-basics-of-tartar-sauce\/","title":{"rendered":"The basics of tartar sauce"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>by Kirk Ross<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/eater1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/eater1.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"eater1\" width=\"100\" height=\"38\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-3924\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nOne of the keys to any decent civilization is a ready supply of fresh-baked bread, and to the delight of many, there finally seems to be enough of the stuff floating around the Triangle.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Much of this is due to the expansion of bakeries in the larger grocery store chains. While a lot of what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s offered in the pastry department leaves something to be desired, nearly all of us now have access to perfectly adequate French bread. <\/p>\n<p>Given our abundant coast, this steady supply of fresh French bread means, of course, that there is no reason for the seafood po\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 boy not to become a regular item on your household menu.<br \/>\nThere\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one problem, though. Sadly, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s almost no decent tartar sauce available anywhere. This may not seem like such a big deal, but bad tartar sauce can ruin a perfectly good sandwich.<br \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6023\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6023\" style=\"width: 350px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Eater1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Eater1.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"Eater1\" width=\"350\" height=\"236\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6023\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Eater1.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Eater1-300x202.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Eater1-120x80.jpg 120w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6023\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s almost no decent tartar sauce available anywhere, so make your own for a seafood po\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 boy like this one.  Photo by Kirk Ross<\/figcaption><\/figure><br \/>\nThe problem with commercial tartar sauce is the same as with most condiments these days \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s full of sugar, especially high-fructose sugars that when mixed with ultra-sweet relish yield something with a sweetness that rivals pure Karo syrup.<\/p>\n<p>Of several brands sampled, only Louisiana, Thomas\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and a couple of expensive specialty-store brands were even tolerable. <\/p>\n<p>The only real alternative is to make your own damn tartar sauce.<\/p>\n<p>Bill Smith of Crook\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Corner says there are a few basics to keep in mind.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The traditional sauce is just mayonnaise and chopped pickles or capers or something sour, and maybe a little lemon juice.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d After that, he said, there are a lot of variations on what you can add, such as chopped eggs and herbs like parsley and chives for additional flavor and flecks of green.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153My favorite is the remoulade style you find in Louisiana, which in France means adding mustard, but there usually means adding chopped peppers, a blend of hot, Creole seasonings or Tabasco,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Remember, whatever you do, that the idea of the sauce is to complement the fish \u00e2\u20ac\u201c not disguise it \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and a good version is more about creating a blend of tang and spice than smothering the fishy taste.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Oh, snap!<\/strong><br \/>\nA stop at Tom Robinson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the other day confirmed that this is shaping up to be a good year for snapper. Lower fuel prices and favorable weather have helped the catch, which were in good supply in a variety of sizes.<\/p>\n<p>As the late Mr. Robinson would tell you, snapper is one of the best fish to grill. The meat holds up, the skin holds together and crisps up nicely and the fish is thick enough to stuff with herbs and scallions.<\/p>\n<p>Red snapper is the most well known of the family, but our waters also have vermillion, pink (The Eater\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s house favorite) and even grey snapper, which until recently were known as grunts.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The amazing fish spatula<\/strong><br \/>\nFile this under \u00e2\u20ac\u0153why haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t I had one of these all my life?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d because that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll say to yourself every time you pick up your fish spatula.<\/p>\n<p>The fish spatula\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s twist is an additional angle at the business end that makes it easier to lift a fish or anything else off the grilling surface. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s slotted, which helps keep juices where you want them if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re working with a pan, but the design still has enough surface area to easily turn an egg. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s elongated too, which makes it easier to finesse the flip and the right tool for turning larger items like, say, a fish, with a lot more control.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Kirk Ross One of the keys to any decent civilization is a ready supply of fresh-baked bread, and to the delight of many, there finally seems to be enough of the stuff floating around the Triangle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[319],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6022"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6022\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6024,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6022\/revisions\/6024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}