🍽️ British & Irish-inspired · Cold sauces & dressings
Seafood Cocktail Sauce — Marie Rose Style
A smooth pink seafood sauce made with mayonnaise, ketchup, lemon, paprika and brandy for prawn cocktails and cold seafood plates.
Time5 minLevelSee methodMakesApproximately 6.1–6.2 L; measure the finished yield
Illustrative photo: A crayfish cocktail with pink Marie Rose sauce. Seafood and salad are additional. Photo by Naturenet, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. View source. This image illustrates the dish; it is not a photo of a kitchen-tested version of this recipe.
Behind the plate
Batch: Commercial batch.
Equipment: Sanitised mixing container, at least 10 L, Whisk or paddle, Clean storage tubs.
The recipe
Ingredients
- Pink base:
- 5 L commercial mayonnaise — Prefer a pasteurised product.
- 1 L tomato ketchup
- Flavouring:
- 100 ml lemon juice
- 3 tbsp sweet paprika
- 60 ml brandy
- salt and black pepper — To taste.
Method
- 1. Mix the base: Whisk the mayonnaise and ketchup together in a clean container until evenly pink.
- 2. Add the flavourings: Mix the lemon juice, paprika and brandy into a little of the pink base, then stir that mixture back into the main batch. Whisk just until uniform.
- 3. Taste and portion: Taste with the food it will accompany. Add pepper and salt only as needed. Measure the final yield.
- 4. Chill: Transfer to clean, labelled covered containers and refrigerate promptly.
Chef’s notes
- A whisk is normally sufficient; a long high-speed blend is unnecessary.
- Brandy remains in this cold sauce because it is not cooked.
- Editorial review: The source’s 6.1–6.2 L is a reasonable input-based estimate, but still needs a finished measurement.
- Editorial review: Cold brandy is explicitly identified as retained alcohol.
- Storage: Keep at 0–5°C and use a validated business shelf life based on the finished sauce and its components. Keep the sauce separate from seafood until assembly; seafood has its own storage controls.
- Conditional allergens: Mayonnaise may contain mustard; ketchup, lemon juice and brandy may carry other declarations including sulphites. Crustaceans or fish apply when served with seafood, not to this standalone formula.
At the table
Spoon over chilled cooked prawns and lettuce, or serve beside a cold seafood platter. Seafood and salad are additional ingredients.