Comeback Sauce

Ingredients

• 180 ml Mayonnaise, full-fat
• 60 ml Chili sauce or ketchup
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp Lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 1 tsp Yellow mustard
• 1 clove Garlic, finely grated or minced
• 2 tsp Onion, finely grated
• ½ tsp Paprika
• ¼ tsp Cayenne pepper
• ¼ tsp Black pepper, freshly ground

Method

1. 1
   Measure the mayonnaise into a bowl. It forms the body of the sauce and must be present in sufficient volume that no other element overtakes it; it should remain the dominant mass when everything is combined.
2. 2
   Add the chili sauce or ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, and yellow mustard. Whisk until the mixture is uniform in colour — a pale orange-pink with no streaks of white remaining.
3. 3
   Add the garlic, onion, paprika, cayenne, and black pepper. Whisk again to incorporate fully. Taste: this is the step on which the dish lives or dies. No single element should dominate — the sauce must read simultaneously as tangy, mildly sweet, mildly spicy, and deeply savoury. Adjust acid (lemon) if it reads flat; add no further ketchup if it reads sweet.
4. 4
   Transfer to a sealed jar and refrigerate for a minimum of 12 hours, preferably 24. The sauce is ready when the sharpness of the raw garlic and onion has softened and the elements have melded into a single, cohesive flavour.