Mayonnaise, tomato ketchup and a splash of cognac: the sauce of the 1970s prawn cocktail, and still surprisingly good when you make it yourself instead of buying it in a bottle.
Cocktail sauce
Sauce cocktail (Marie-Rose)
Cocktail sauce
Sauce cocktail (Marie-Rose)
Method
01
Mix
Stir the tomato ketchup into the mayonnaise until you have a smooth, salmon-pink mixture without streaks.
02
Cognac
Add the cognac and stir well. Note: the alcohol doesn't evaporate as it does when cooking, so add it sparingly to stop the sauce being overpowered.
03
Season
Season with a few drops of Worcestershire sauce for depth, a pinch of cayenne pepper for heat, and some lemon juice for freshness.
04
Salt
Taste and, if necessary, season further with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
05
Rest
Chill for at least 15 minutes before serving, so the flavours combine.
Tips & notes
Use a good, not-too-sweet ketchup or make a quick tomato reduction of your own. An overly sweet ketchup crowds out the other flavours and the sauce becomes one-dimensional. Keeps for a maximum of 3 days, covered, in the fridge, because the mayonnaise contains raw egg.
Chef's tip
In England this sauce is called Marie Rose sauce and is inseparably linked with the prawn cocktail. The cognac is classic but not sacred: sherry or a splash of whisky also work, as long as the sharpness of the alcohol cuts through the sweetness of the ketchup.
Variations
- With sherry – Replace the cognac with dry sherry.
- Spicy – Add a dash of Tabasco alongside the Worcestershire sauce.
- With paprika – A pinch of smoked paprika for extra depth.
Contains:
Eggs
Gluten
Fish
Serve with
- Prawn cocktail
- Crab
- Avocado
- Smoked salmon
- Starters similar to vitello tonnato
| Calories | 587 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 3 g |
| Carbohydrates | 15 g |
| Fat | 58 g |
| Fibre | 4 g |
Estimated values, calculated from standard nutritional values per ingredient.
