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.

Tartar sauce (French: sauce tartare; spelled tartare sauce in the UK, Ireland, and Commonwealth countries) is a condiment made of mayonnaise, chopped pickles and relish, caper, and herbs such as tarragon and dill.

Tartar sauce is relatively high in fat—especially when compared to other condiments served with fish, such as ketchup or vinegar. There are 4.7 grams of fat in a serving of tartar sauce. About 0.9 grams is saturated fat. About 1 gram is monounsaturated fat and 2.5 grams are polyunsaturated fat.