Perfect Cocktail Sauce – Heinz With Horseradish
After nearly three decades of eating (and making) shrimp cocktails, I’ve come to the inevitable conclusion: It’s really hard to do better than Heinz cocktail sauce, especially if you add more horseradish. I’ve tried more refined and expensive brands of cocktail sauce and made my own, but I always go back to Heinz with the metaphorical hat in hand. (My boyfriend made the mistake of buying a Beaver branded cocktail sauce this weekend, and I’m still a little offended!)
It makes sense. Cocktail sauce is mostly ketchup and Heinz makes the best ketchup, so it’s no surprise that their cocktail sauce delivers the perfect balance of sweet and savory. Plus, the “homemade” cocktail sauce isn’t really homemade, is it? Even if you’re making “your own” cocktail sauce, you need to start with ketchup, and we already know that homemade ketchup sucks . (You ask, what’s the best ketchup? Heinz. It’s Heinz .)
So if you’re not planning on making your own ketchup for making your own cocktail sauce – which I wouldn’t recommend – just buy a Heinz and make it to your liking. As much as I love the Heinz cocktail sauce, I admit it needs more shit. (I’ve never actually come across a cocktail sauce that’s horsey enough for me, including those that claim it’s heavy on the root.)
Therefore, it is imperative to keep a jar of cooked horseradish in the refrigerator, no matter what kind of cocktail sauce you buy. If you’re wondering how much horseradish is “enough” horseradish, it’s simple: you want to add enough to make the cocktail sauce a whole shade lighter. You don’t need red sauce – no, no – you want it to be dark pink. Then and only then is it ready for your little shrimp.