Joshua Dages

Writer

All posts are written by me—a human—with no help from AI. I personally thought about it, made myself chuckle, wrote it down, and edited it… em-dashes, oxford commas and all.

Joshua Dages is a designer, artist, and writer who talks about food incessantly to anyone who accidentally walks by.

The Cocktail Sauce

The first time I ate shrimp was when my grandpa (my mom’s dad this time) brought a huge amount to our family reunion. I remember him saying that he caught them himself. He had a boat, lived on the coast and loved fishing, but I have no idea how easy or hard it is to catch shrimp, so I can’t confirm his story. Also, he’s a grandpa. Most gramperial stories can’t be confirmed.

I remember trying the shrimp, not because I wanted to try something new, but because I was terrified of my ex-Navy grandpa and was afraid he was going to call me a wimp or something if I didn’t. He was a tough man and had a demeanor that made me and all my male cousins tremble just by looking at him.

Luckily, it turned out I quite enjoyed shrimp. Or I should say, I enjoyed cocktail sauce. I had never had something so sweet and tangy and amazing before! And if I put enough on, it completely masked the shrimp taste. (Now, of course, I fully appreciate the taste and versatility of shrimp.)

Here is a recipe for my Grandpa’s cocktail sauce. Makes enough for a family reunion of about 12 seafood lovers, six seafood likers and one conscientious objector (my mom):

  • 1 ½ cups ketchup

  • 3 oz. prepared horseradish (store-bought is fine)

  • 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

  • ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

  • ½ tsp hot sauce, (Tabasco or other)

  • Dash of Worcestershire sauce

  • Ash from a dangling cigarette, to taste

Joshua Dages