KFC Colonel's Sauce

Home reconstruction

Colonel's Sauce is the creamy, pale, faintly sweet one, and the reason home versions taste like plain burger sauce is almost always the same: not enough black pepper.

There is a distinct peppery bite in it, well past the quarter-teaspoon most copycat recipes call for. It is the note that makes it recognisable, and it is the one people are most reluctant to push far enough.

What it is built from

Mayonnaise is the base and the bulk.

Mustard, mild and yellow rather than Dijon. Yellow mustard brings turmeric colour and vinegar sharpness without Dijon's heat.

A little sugar or honey. It reads faintly sweet, not sweet.

Black pepper, coarsely ground and used generously.

Everything else — onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, a splash of vinegar — fills in the background.

Coarse pepper, not fine

Fine-ground pepper disperses evenly and gives you an even, dull heat. Coarse pepper gives you flecks you can see and bursts you can taste, which is what this sauce does.

Grind it fresh if you can. Pre-ground pepper loses most of its aroma within weeks of opening — the compound responsible is volatile and it simply leaves.

What you need

• 200 ml mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp yellow mustard
• 2 tsp white vinegar
• 2 tsp honey or granulated sugar
• 1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp salt

Method

1. Whisk everything together until smooth.
2. Taste, and add more black pepper if it does not bite. Most people need another half teaspoon.
3. Refrigerate 2 hours.

Why two hours

Straight from the bowl, the pepper sits on top and the mustard sits underneath. Rested, the pepper's oils disperse into the mayonnaise and the mustard's sharpness softens into the whole.

Fresh, it tastes like ingredients. Rested, it tastes like a sauce.

Getting the sweetness right

Two teaspoons of honey in 200 ml of mayonnaise is below the level where it reads as sweet. It rounds the vinegar and mustard rather than announcing itself.

If yours tastes sweet, you have used too much. Take it back and add vinegar and pepper rather than trying to dilute with more mayonnaise, which flattens everything.

What it goes with

Fried chicken, obviously. It is also a good burger sauce, a good chip dip, and a better sandwich spread than plain mayonnaise for anything with cold chicken in it.

Storing

A week in the fridge in a sealed jar. The pepper flavour strengthens over the first two days, so a batch made ahead is arguably better than one made to order.

Do not freeze. Mayonnaise splits.