Hold the mayo

I have yet to find a good bought mayonnaise in this country. The main ingredient lacking in sufficient quantity is olive oil, but other seasoning is vital too – salt, pepper, mustard and, for me, a small amount of sugar. Making our own mayonnaise takes no longer than two or three minutes, and the same again to wash up the food processor – and mayonnaise is such a useful sauce with both cold and hot foods.

There are several mayonnaise alternatives, however, some are more specific to certain foods than others. Today's recipe for a spicy apple and crème fraîche sauce spiked with horseradish is eminently suitable for all smoked foods, and above all smoked fish. The barbecue sauce is very good with all meats (chargrilled or not) yet it would overpower most fish, with the exception of streaky bacon-wrapped roast monkfish. The salsa verde, on the other hand, is good with everything.

Both the barbecue sauce and the salsa verde can be made a couple of days in advance, provided they are kept in covered bowls in the fridge, and the barbecue sauce reheats perfectly well. The apple and horseradish sauce can be made ahead but I suggest not by more than 24 hours. With this sauce you can, if you like, ring the changes by substituting grainy mustard for the horseradish. I love horseradish, but not everyone shares my enthusiasm for this fiery ingredient! And when I buy horseradish relish, I prefer that made by either Moniack or Isabella's relishes. Others can taste too vinegary.

If you buy fresh horseradish root, wear rubber gloves to peel and grate it, then simmer it in stock with a squeeze of lemon juice for about five minutes. Drain the grated horseradish and cool it, before mixing with the crème fraîche and apples.

BARBECUE SAUCE

This is a really sweet and sour sauce, but without too much of a vinegary kick. The only absolute in this recipe is that the ketchup must be Heinz – no other will do.

SERVES 6

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 onions, skinned and finely diced

1-2 fat cloves of garlic, skinned and diced

2in/5cm root ginger, skin pared off and the ginger finely diced

1 tablespoon soft brown sugar, light or dark

1x14oz/284g tin of chopped tomatoes

1/2 pint/285ml Heinz tomato ketchup

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon strong soy sauce

1 teaspoon Tabasco

Heat the olive oil and fry the diced onions over moderate heat for three to five minutes, until soft and transparent and turning brown at the edges. Stir in the diced garlic and root ginger, and cook for a minute before adding the soft brown sugar. Stir and cook for a further minute, then add the tin of chopped tomatoes, the ketchup, Dijon mustard, soy sauce and Tabasco. Simmer all gently for two or three minutes, allow to cool, then store in the fridge.

CREME FRAICHE, HORSERADISH AND APPLE SAUCE

SERVES 6

1/2 pint/285ml crème fraîche

4 good eating apples

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 rounded tablespoon horseradish cream

1 tablespoon finely snipped chives

1/2 teaspoon salt and about 15 grinds of black pepper

1 teaspoon Tabasco

Tip the crème fraîche into a bowl. Peel the apples and grate them coarsely, then stir in the lemon juice, to prevent the apples from turning brown. Combine thoroughly with the crème fraîche, horseradish cream, snipped chives, salt, pepper and Tabasco. Serve in a bowl, to accompany any smoked foods, but especially smoked fish.

SALSA VERDE

This just means "green sauce". I vary the herbs I use with the parsley, but some mint is always good. Salsa verde goes with any food – chicken, meat or fish – and a spoonful stirred through drained pasta makes a quick and delicious lunch or supper. The taste is intense, therefore only a spoonful per person is required.

SERVES 6

3oz/85g parsley, flat or curly leaved

2oz/55g mint leaves, or 1oz/28g mint and 1oz/28g any other herb, such as chervil

1 slice of bread, crusts removed and the bread pulverised into crumbs

1 fat clove of garlic, skinned and chopped

2 teaspoons large capers, drained

2 anchovies, drained

1/2 pint/285ml olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice (if you prefer, substitute wine vinegar for the lemon juice, but I find that the capers contribute sufficient vinegariness)

about 15 grinds of black pepper

This sauce used to be made by pounding all the ingredients together, but these days a food processor does the work.

Put the parsley and mint into the food processor and whiz. Add the breadcrumbs, chopped garlic, capers and anchovies and whiz again, gradually adding the olive oil, then the lemon juice and, lastly, the black pepper. Scrape this sauce into a bowl, cover and store in the fridge.

Try serving salsa verde with cold meat. It's always served with bollito misto in Italy – a meal of various meats and offal, including beef and sausage.

• For details on Claire's three-day residential cookery demonstrations at Kinloch Lodge, tel: [phone] or visit www.claire-macdonald.com