I may drool as I write this. Feel free to join me. There is no judgement here.

When there is occasion to go out for dinner, or lunch (I’m really not fussy, out is out and I love food), I always try to order something I wouldn’t cook for myself, or that I’ve never had before. I’m quite adventurous in my diet. I don’t mean that I salivate at the notion of ostrich steaks or chocolate coated insects. I just mean I’m not going to order the same thing every single time. That seems to be – rather missing the point. Unless…

Unless there’s scampi.

Oh, but I am a fool for scampi. Throw in some tartare sauce and I could be lost for days.

When I was a teenager, it was just around the time supermarkets started delivering groceries to people’s houses. This was lucky in terms of timing because, my little shop up the road is lovely, but we couldn’t survive on the stocks there. Too many tins, not enough leaves. Anyway, my mother started ordering food from Iceland and, feeling a bit fancy, she bought a packet of lobster tails. If I recall correctly, she might have gone mad and ordered a lemon to go with them.

Anyway, I, appropriately, whacked them in the oven for 25 minutes, spilled them onto a plate, doused them in lemon juice and brought them through to her bedroom.

We shared them but only because of my mother’s good heart. On my first bite, I declared that they were ‘a bit like scampi’. And with that – the lobster tails were hers. I could have scampi. There was no point spending lobster money on me if I was too young/immature to tell the difference.

But I’ll say it myself – shop tartare sauce does not compare to restaurant tartare sauce.

Here’s my recipe:

Ingredients –
200ml mayonnaise
3tbsp capers, drained and chopped
3tbsp gherkins, drained and chopped
1 small shallot, finely diced
A squeeze of lemon juice
2tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper

1. Mix all the ingredients together and serve straight away. Serves four. Or three, if they’re like me and love the stuff.