Rossty - Tartare Sauce product reviews

I love tartare sauce, always have, and always will. I remember as a youngster, going out to a local restaurant with my parents and having scampi and chips. It used to come with the most divine tartare sauce and I always ended up asking for extra. I love tartare sauce with fish and even just with chips.

I was delighted to be able to try Rossty Foods Tartare Sauce which comes in a very attractive green pouch. It has a cartoon image of a fish and chips on the front and ingredients and nutritional information on the back. The 'Thank you for supporting a small Kiwi business' stamped at the top is a nice reminder to support local. Whilst trying to see if the packaging was recyclable, I did see a cute little ghost on the bottom of the pouch saying 'boo' which I thought was a nice touch. I'm still not sure whether I can recycle the pouch though!

The pouch has a screw lid that I found easy to open (it reminded me of the yoghurt pouches) and it was convenient to use as no spoon was needed to scoop any out. The tartare sauce itself was one of the best I've tried, it actually took me back to that childhood restaurant where I found myself wanting more. It was sweet, but not overly so, and had the perfect gherkin ratio. Both my daughters tried it and loved it, so much so that I had to take the pouch away from them so I'd have some left. I suppose my biggest complaint would be the pouch size. This would be perfect to take with you if you were going to have fish and chips on the beach, but for a tartare sauce-loving family, this sauce disappeared far too quickly. It needs to be at least five times bigger. I'll definitely be buying again and highly recommend it!

As a child I ate my fish bare; possibly battered, but with no other additives. No salt. No lemon. No sauce, not even the ubiquitous ersatz tomato. I just loved the taste of fish by itself - any kind, any condition from cooked right down to raw and straight out of the ocean (think oysters cracked open on a rock and swallowed whole). Going to Europe changed all that. I discovered capers and gherkins and onions and mayonnaise, and never looked back. Fish now had a best friend! Since those days and my return home to New Zealand, I have tried all varieties of tartare sauce plus a couple of home-made mixes, so I approached this new product with the air of a connoisseur!

The first and obvious difference from other similar products was the packaging. It says it serves one, but we managed four servings out of one pack and that was with generous amounts. However, the convenience of being able to take an unopened pack when going for a picnic on a hot day and not having to worry about the remainder of the product spoiling before you can get back to refrigerator land is invaluable. Chilly bins are all very well but unless you have them well packed with freezer bricks there are few containers that can withstand the heat of a blazing day at the beach. The resealable opening means you can use the sauce up over a period of several hours, but longer might not be recommended.

So - the contents! We squeezed the sauce over our takeaway fish dinner, served straight out of the paper it came in. The sauce was thick and held its shape; very handy when that happens because if it dribbles over the edge of the batter the paper gives way. The first taste was a delight: a wonderful smooth and creamy texture interspersed with tiny bits of vegetable. There was that usual burst of sour pickle flavour tempered by the richness of the sauce base, nicely blended so that the effect was of one coordinated taste. The slight greasiness of the fish batter was countered by the sourness which cut through, enhancing the fish inside.

I can think of many ways to use this product, My partner suggested cutting a lemon in half, talking out the pulp, then squeezing the sauce into the lemon peel container for serving as a dip with finger food like goujons. The lemon would add to the flavour and look pretty as well on a party centrepiece. I make an egg mix for club sandwiches, consisting of mashed hard-boiled eggs, chopped parsley, butter, curry powder, and a little mayonnaise: next time I will try the tartare sauce instead of the mayonnaise as it will probably add more zing to the result. Lastly, spread on a bagel with smoked salmon it would be an absolute treat. Lots of possibilities!