Historians believe that the word “tartar” has an etymological origin with the Tatars, a group of people from Western Russia and Turkey. Legend has it, they ate roughly shredded meat in order to make the tough protein more palatable. This treatment of meat could be the origins of the more refined French classic.

Gordon Ramsay adds crème fraîche for a tangy tartar sauce Gordon Ramsay combines around three tablespoons of the dairy product with ⅓ cup mayonnaise for his tartar sauce, along with pickles, finely diced shallots, and a teaspoon of lemon juice.

History. Tartar sauce is named for steak tartare, with which it was commonly served in 19th century France. Recipes for tartar sauce have been found in English-language cookbooks dating to the mid-19th century, including a recipe in Modern Cookery for Private Families in 1860.

also tartare sauce. uncountable noun. Tartar sauce is a thick cold sauce, usually eaten with fish, consisting of chopped onions and capers mixed with mayonnaise.