The origin of the word is actually kind of interesting. When what was to become the Russian Empire was expanding into what is now Tatarstan and various Orthodox Christian peoples were engaged in hostility with Tatar powers in general (like on the Volga and in Ukraine), the "r" was added to "Tatar" to make them sound Luciferian ("Tartarus," since they're Muslim infidels and all). English-speakers of course obtained their main (and pretty much only) knowledge of Tatar peoples via the Russian Empire, so naturally enough they picked up the ethnic slur. You still get translations of Tolstoy refering to "Tartars."
(I discovered recently that Charles Bronson of action movie fame was an ethnic Tatar, born to an immigrant in Pennsylvania. That's wild, although he does look it know that I know what I'm looking at.)
I have no idea if it has anything to do with the sauce. :)
--- On Tue, 10/7/08, James Heartfield <Heartfield at blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
>
> Tatar sauce, anyone?
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