To Thrill a Mockingbird

We’re flipping Arthur Lee’s ‘mockingbird’ on its head to thrill rather than kill. It is Atticus Finch, who tells his children that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird because mockingbirds “don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy.” They do not damage crops or hurt anyone, they simply bring beauty into the world.

And they’re so named for their ability to mock other birds and even animals.

Our ‘mockery’ is intended to thrill sauce lovers with short cut ‘mock recipes’ creating classics for your table at home – without the efforts of classic cuisine.

The base ingredient for all these tasty tips is our velvety smooth Real Mayonnaise.Let’s start with something delicious for these poached asparagus while they are still in season.

Mock Hollandaise Sauce

This creamy sauce contains notes of lemon, mustard, and paprika.

Mix 175ml of our Real Mayonnaise with the same of sour cream, stirring in a squeeze of lemon juice, teaspoon of our Dijon Mustard, a shake of paprika and dash of tabasco.

Spoon this over a poached egg on the asparagus and … wow … it’s good.

Burger Sauce.

Although we have so many sauces to elevate your burgers this coming BBQ season, especially our Burger Relish, this is something rather special.Use 250ml of our Real Mayonnaise as the base, add 1 teaspoon of chopped gherkins, a teaspoon (perhaps 2 if you like it hotter) of our Chilli Ketchup, and a teeny pinch of dried chilli flakes.

Spread, stack and love!

A classic(ish) Rouille

A rouille is a thick, spicy, garlicky French mayonnaise-like sauce originating from Provence. Its name means “rust,” referencing its signature reddish-orange hue. Traditionally made with egg yolks, olive oil, breadcrumbs, garlic, saffron, and cayenne or paprika, it is the classic accompaniment to bouillabaisse being dotted on top.

The shortcut is to use 250ml of (this time) our Garlic Mayonnaise, stirring in a tablespoon of chopped roasted red peppers (from a jar) and a pinch of spicy smoked paprika. Job done.

Make a fish soup with croutons, adding a dot of rouille to the floating croutons.

Bloody Mary Cocktail SauceSimple – combine 2 or 3 parts Real Mayonnaise to 1 part Bloody Mary Ketchup and a squeeze of lemon juice, combined to taste.

Green Herb Sauce

This makes a vibrant green sauce packed with fresh herbs balanced by the richness of our Real Mayonnaise.

Finely chop whatever you want, fresh parsley, chives, basil, lemon thyme, a little dill perhaps, and combine a teaspoon of each into the mayo with black pepper and twist of lemon.

It’s a great dipping sauce for, well, just about anything.

Amongst all of our sauces, there is a page called ‘Special Sauces‘. We call them special, because they do something rather different – ‘Especially for You‘.

Start the day in a special way, with toast, smashed avocado, smoked salmon and an egg.

What’s so special – the Mustard & Dill Sauce that’s been stirred into the crushed avocado adding tangy aromatics that go so, so well with salmon, smoked or otherwise.It also adds so much to the warm potato salad accompanying the grilled Mackerel here.Coronation Sauce – the sauce of Kings and Queens – was created for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

Our recipe follows the original very closely, adding just one or two tasty ‘Stokensian’ twists. Simply spooned with leftover chicken, it creates a delicious Coronation Chicken in the blink of a regal eye.Our Sweet Chilli Sauce adds some dazzling flavours of the Orient with lots of red peppers and celebrational sparkles of chilli.

It takes a stir fry from ‘ok’, to ‘WOW’, in a shake or two. But its versatility lifts anything it touches, like the crispy cod goujons here.Another oriental favourite is our Hoisin Sauce. A must with crispy aromatic duck, and used here by our Resident Chef, Andy, if this beautiful Vegetable Tofu Ramen – recipe HERE.

For these and our other Special Sauces, click HERE.

We love tomatoes. Botanically, it’s a fruit; culturally, it’s a vegetable; emotionally, it’s the reason half the world’s comfort food exists.What do we turn to when it’s cold and we’re feeling under parr!

Slice one raw, and it brings brightness and sweetness to a summer salad. Cook it slowly and it transforms into something deeper, darker, richer, the velvety backbone of pasta sauces, curries, stews, soups, pizzas, and of course – our Real Tomato Ketchup … and friends.It’s a short journey from garden snack to gastronomic wizard.

Part of this magic lies in umami. Umami, that elusive savoury “fifth taste” that makes us lean in for another bite before we’ve quite finished the first.Tomatoes are quietly loaded with glutamates, the naturally occurring compounds responsible for umami, and cooking concentrates them into flavour dynamite.

It’s why a fresh tomato tastes lively, while a slow-simmered sauce tastes like it has wisdom.Perhaps that’s why food cultures across the world keep returning to them.

They’re equally at home in an Italian ragù, a Mexican salsa, an Indian curry base, or a shakshuka bubbling away at breakfast.

They can be sharp, sweet, smoky, silky, rustic, elegant, or unapologetically messy as they burst under anything other than a very sharp knife.

And somehow, despite centuries of culinary fame, we still underestimate them, until we taste a spoonful of a rich tomato sauce that makes us close our eyes and smile.Love Tomatoes? We do.

And here’s why … HERE.