condiments

No...mayo, mustard, or ketchup.
They are abominations.
Pickles.
(although, I must admit, that when too much alcohol is involved, those restrictions might be waived.)

There is some great mustard out there.

It all depends on the item.

I almost never want ketchup - it's generally too sweet.
Likewise for many BBQ sauces, although one that's not too sweet can be pure heaven!
Plain mustard is usually a negative, but various mustard variations are big hits with me.
I find Mayo bland, but occasionally want Miracle Whip on some comfort food items.

Horseradish is great with many types of beef.
Ditto that for Worcestershire sauce!

I have somewhat of a weakness for Sazon. It's a lazy condiment, but adds instant flavor to bland dishes.
I love wasabi with most fish - it enhances the ones I like and covers the ones I don't.
Old Bay with crabs in the shell (and occasionally with French fries).

I'm actually not much of a condiment guy (I tend to think they distract from, or cover over, the base taste) but still appreciate the right ones at the right time.

Man, nothing annoys me more than making some kind of dinner, and having whoever dousing it in ketchup or bbq sauce. Its an insult. If I wanted it to taste like ketchup, I would have made it to taste like ketchup.
But now that I think of it, I have made a chocolate cake that had mayo in it...and it was really good, it did away with needing eggs or oil.

Mayo has no place in civilized society.

I like to douse almost everything with siracha.

I'm not quite sure why I ever ate eggs without it.

Me too. And wasabi.

Salsa.

Oh, yes! And funny you should mention that...

Most BBQ sauce from the store is terrible. Too sweet, as Dan mentioned.

I have my mother-in-law's secret BBQ sauce that has a vinegar base (My in-laws owned a BBQ joint in Nashville for a while). It is so much better than anything you get in a store.

North Carolina Vinegar BBQ Sauce is, undoubtedly, the reason that pigs were created.
And thus, the reason I could never keep Kosher or Halal.

My mom manages to find it every Easter. Maybe it's a suburb thing?

mayo on sandwiches is gross (unless it is home made mayo which is really different) I like it in salads though like coleslaw or tuna

Mustard is only for pretzels

I can put ketchup or bbq sauce on almost anything

most foods benefit from hotsauce

salsa, horseradish, blue cheese, russian all have their place but ranch is totally vile

oil and vinegar only on italian sandwiches

No kidding. I had two special pints at Christmas for you. Wrapped in a bag with your name on it in the fridge. Then my family decided that it was completely appropriate to take the pints out of the bag, throw away the paper with your name written in big block letters and eat said pints of salsa. In one sitting. I haven't made any since. Sigh.

I would die without my barbeque sauce (even the sweet kind). I eat it on practically everything. Also like hot mustard - preferably Mr. Mustard. I love horseradish. Wasabi is great. I love my Kelchner's cocktail sauce with seafood. I like Miracle whip if it is in salads (potato/macaroni) but not a lot of it. I can't stand mayo - I don't even like to look at it. Ketchup is specifically for fries in my world, although if we run out of barbeque sauce I will eat in on some meats. Salsa - yum (especially Kat's) which I used to get at Mandi's all the time. I don't like hotsauce at all on anything.

You can buy HP Sauce, Salad Cream, and many other British condiments/delights at the Wegman's in Cherry Hill.

...and now that i think about it, Ida Mae's will also sell you a bottle of HP.

I still see red horseradish in the supermarkets back in Florida all the time. I think any market that has a Kosher section would be likely to carry it (think I've seen it at Whole Foods as well). Ever buy fresh horseradish and shred it yourself? That'll clear your sinuses.

Other condiments? No use for ketchup whatsoever and can't even remember the last time I bought a bottle (maybe never, actually). Even with fries, I'd rather go plain or maybe a dash of malt vinegar. Plain mayo sucks, but I can deal with a garlic or herbal aioli. Like a bunch of mustards except for plain yellow (boring)--especially really pungent Dijons.

As for Siracha, how did I ever live without it? I'll put it in or on nearly everything aside from coffee.

Texas Pete

And

Mr. Hot - Hot Mustard

It's at Thiftway, I have some in my fridge now.

You weirdos and your condiment hate. I am pretty sure there is yet to be a condiment I dislike.

I have probably 5-6 different mustards, 2 different ketchups (Heinz and Hunts are awful), 2 different horseradish, at least 1 jar of Lemonaise, and about 5 different hot sauces.

Y'all are weird.

Generally I think everything has its place and there's nothing wrong with mayo. I love dipping French Fries in it ala Belgium style. I usually hate mayos infused with herbs or garlic but once I made home made mayo using truffle oil which I spread on a sarcones roll and made a "roast beef" sandwhich using thinly sliced leftover strip steak, manchgo cheese and arugula - Paesanos would have been envyous...

I like ketchup (sauce "american") on scrapple, cheesesteaks and scrambled eggs. I also like to mix it with a little (or alot of) siracha.

I also generally love Dijon mustard but prefer cheap yellow mustard on pretzels and hot dogs.

Hot sauce. Siracha, crystal, its all good to me. I love the Goya green hot sauce they sell at Thriftway!

horseradish is a requirement for fresh kielbasa (as opposed to smoked).

Definitely an acquired taste, but I LOVE this stuff:

Speaking of ketchup, Richard Nixon famously liked it mixed into cottage cheese.

I cannot explain this.

That just made me throw up in my mouth a little.

You're welcome.

Mike thinks I'm weird because I can usually eat a meal without the need for any condiments. But I still have some pretty specific preferences.

- Mayo. Yuck. EXCEPT in tuna or egg salad that I make myself specifically so that I can tightly control the amount of mayo that goes in. And chicken salad is nasty so don't even go there, but I had good ham salad once. Weird. Potato salad is much better when it's oil/vinegar based.

- Ketchup. Eh. I used to put it on everything as a kid, but now it's pretty much just for the rare times I eat fries or burgers. It should never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever go on steak and anyone who puts it on a steak should be ashamed of themselves.

- Steak sauce. Strictly Peter Luger's steak sauce.

- Worcestershire. Awesome stuff.

- Salsa. Always great. I also like the sweet salsas like mango. Which reminds me I also like chutney. Pour it over a block of cream cheese, serve with triscuits. Heck yeah.

- BBQ sauce. Agree with whoever said most store-bought versions are icky. I like to make it at home, but in a pinch, I like Bubb's or Dinosaur BBQ's versions.

- Ranch dressing. Ew are you serious? If you want to use that as a condiment, you better be living in a trailer park. Hate that stuff. Hidden Valley Ranch commercials make me gag.

- Best condiment ever - a good, grainy mustard. I especially like the ones with whole mustard seeds in them. I have grown to not like most salad dressings (in addition to Ranch...blech). My favorite homemade quick dressing is a generous dollop of some sort of dijon whisked into a mixture of white balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Sometimes I add fresh herbs and/or a dollop of OJ. Very nice!

My best friend went to a bridal shower in Louisiana. One of the items served was BBQ sauce poured over a block of cream cheese. With Triscuits.

That made me laugh. But I'm crying on the inside a little too.

Holy crap. That sounds fantastically nasty.

That sounds delicious. I guess he and I have something in common besides being white men.

ooo, ooo... I love dipping the slices of beef from Pho soup into siracha and hoisin sauce mixed together.

there is also an asian condiment for beef simply made with lime juice, salt and pepper. They will give it to you when you order the country beef cubes at Nam Phoam vietnamese restauant at 11th and Washington.

...and that weird salty pickled condiment you get with Indian food!

Yep. The main course was a six footer from Subway.

Indian food condiments are the best. I love that minty green sauce and raita.

Thumbs up to that combo. Yum.

This stuff goes pretty awesome with cheese (especially runny ones like brie), too. Or straight outta the jar!

Hmm. I like mayo fine, but usually as part of a salad (tuna, potato). Not so much on sandwiches - I prefer spicy, grainy mustard. Mayo is good with frites too. Ketchup is for fries and burgers. Malt vinegar for "chips".

Pickles are a must. Pickle relish on a turkey and cheese sandwich and mustard - yummy. Tartar sauce on any breaded fish.

Love horseradish, siracha, wasabi, salsa, worcestershire etc. Fish sauce is essential for stirfrys. And a good mingonette sauce on raw oysters - oh man.

There's a white wine worcestershire that is delicious; also the sofrito/recaito sauces are yummy.

I don't really do Indian food.

Frites. Fries. Chips. what's the difference?

Not all fries are the same, are they?

I love mayo so much I could eat it right out of the jar, and sometimes do. I also love a good horseradish mustard, and the dijon that Frankford Hall serves is so spicy I would almost classify it as a horseradish mustard.

The Red Horseradish sauce is available all over the place. I'm pretty sure the thriftway carries it and the SuperFresh definitely carries it. In the refrigerated section.

This is an image I'm going to have a hard time erasing from my mind, Neil.

You should have seen Ronchito on Halloween.......

That's an image that will stick with me forever.

mmm, raita.

i don't really eat ketchup on anything, with the exception of occasionally on an egg-and-cheese sandwich.

i LOVE mustard. any kind, but especially the whole-grain, spicy, or horseradish-infused ones.

i will only eat fries with aioli or honey-mustard. never ketchup.

wasabi is delicious, but then again anything with horseradish is.

also, hot sauce is amazing... preferably sriracha.

oh, also, our friend in france made a homemade mayonnaise, and it was delicious. she made fries and used the mayo for the dipping sauce. yum.

"Mayo" like Hellmanns or Miracle Whip is pretty bland and not very good. But homemade mayo with dijon, red wine vinegar, and cracked pepper is an amazing dipping sauce for asparagus, fries, etc. And it's really easy to make if you have one of those immersion hand blenders.

Next Class: Condiments

I'll have to try to make my own mayo someday.

i make (famously within my friends and family) the best grilled cheese with mayo. surpised so many hater of it here.

since i was 4, my bane is Fluff. not so much a condiment, but no one eats fluff alone, so i consider it one.

Texas Pete is my new "on anything" condiment. long-time sriracha and tabasco lover finally embraced it. they each have their sig dishes, but this is all over meals these days.

Almost forgot about this stuff. VERY common in Miami since it's essential for a lot of Cuban dishes, but you can find it here, too. Basically a marinade of sour orange, olive oil, spices, and a TON of garlic---but it can be used as a dipping sauce, too. Love it. Of course, a homemade version kicks the butt of the bottled.

And as long as I'm thinking of the Miami/Caribbean stuff, this too for your Inner Rasta:

I used to love this stuff:

But one time (in 1997) I opened an old jar and took a big wiff before looking in and seeing the fuzzy multi-colored growth inside. I still get nauseous just looking at the jar in the isle of the grocery store.

Ketchup is the worst. Especially when it touches a cheesesteak, burger, or hot dog.

WRONG.

We make the red beet horseradish for Easter and Christmas every year. Traditional eastern european thing?

If you think ketchup is gross here, try eating it in another country. Vom. Natural Heinz for life.

Love good preserves or jelly.

Is peanut butter a condiment? Because I eat a metric ton (MFT) per year.

Also, I need a recipe for jerk sauce, because now I want to put it on evvvrryyyyttthinnng.

Leo, I'd like you to meet the quote function. It helps all of us know which of the 58 comments in this thread you are responding to.

Otherwise, it is simply...

"Yes."

Pray tell, how does one use this 'quote' function?

Love mayo and mustard.
Despise ketchup. Yuck!

I like Betty Crocker Rich and Creamy Milk Chocolate Frosting. It tastes good on almost everything, plus it can be a meal by itself. I put it on my McDoubles and my french fries. It's also the best dipping sauce for McNuggets. And if I don't have any money for eating out then it can be a meal by itself. Plus it's good with Chinese food although that's harder to get since they closed that place over by the Hair Cuttery.

My fiancé has more or less 50 types of mustard. He is very peculiar about which one goes with which meat, bread, even his pretzel. It's madness. The positive? I don't have to make sandwiches. :)

El Tapatio. When I first moved out here the only place you could get it was Reading Terminal. At that time I bought a case of it and had it shipped out here. So glad all teh markets carry it now :)

65 comments on condiments. We are truly an interesting group.

I love condiments. I love making herbed mayo, ketchup on scrambled eggs, all types of mustards, any type of bbq sauce, hot sauce, soy sauce, whatever. I love it all.

I made a pretty good salad dressing last night: yogurt, white wine vinegar, walnut oil, grainy Dijon, pressed garlic clove, salt, pepper. Next time, I'll probably add some fresh herbs but it was still good without. Went on a salad of arugula and spinach with hearts of palm, sunflower seeds, almond slivers, green peppers, red onion, rutabaga wedges (cooked), and medium rare steak. Tasty!

Honey and sriracha on eggs and toast is my breakfast of choice, lately. I almost didn't want to share this one because it's so good. It's probably my best contribution to the world of food.

Sounds interesting. How do you prepare the eggs?

Does salt count as a condiment? I put it on pretty much everything!

I could bathe in mayo. Nothing better and worse for you than a mayo and cheese sandwich. My 100% Italian step-father says it's no wonder--us "white" people with our "white people" foods...because basically that's what we are--mayonnaise--a smattering of whites.

Ketchup is the only reason to eat fries. They're vehicles for ketchup, basically. At one point, I thought ketchup could be a food group for me. By ketchup, I mean Heinz. I recently changed to organic Heinz because there's no high fructrose corn syrup in it. Tastes wonderful.

Spicy mustard is great but only to add to things like potato salad (I actually make a mayo/vinegar hybrid one) and yellow mustard only on Philly pretzels.

Newcomer, I fell in love with that Costa Rican sauce--name is failing me--just bought some on Amazon. Great on everything.

I have no clue what sriracha is. Does that mean I lose my yuppie card? Maybe it's redeemed by my love of aoili.

Growing up, we had like one flavoring/spice on the food my mom made: butter. It's taken me real strides to figure out what I like besides that as flavoring.

But same thing...if you used ketchup or steak sauce on the meat my mom made, you might as well have spit on it. Serious crime.

sriracha mixed with mayo is really good.

That Linzano "salsa," right? I forgot about that but yeah, it's really good. What do you put it on?
Smoked paprika is really good in mayo too.

Oh yeah.

Yup--I put it on rice, veggies. By the reviews on amazon, we may be 2 of 5 Americans that took to it.

Dave's Insanity Sauce is the best. If your condiments don't require special handling and keeping away from children, I don't see the point. Just be careful around your man parts. It has no place in the bedroom. I had to learn that the hard way.

mayo is what tv is to the hip set, no one claims to like it, but they all secretly enjoy it. Honestly, all the "hip" friends I have all do not like mayo, hate tv and all have ten speeds bikes. BTW, I dont use hip just to infer hipster, could think of another term to describe, not regular folk

I heard the seminal band Minor Threat was retooling their signature tune:

(I) Don't eat mayo
Don't watch TV
Don't drive
At least I can fing think I'm different

Ah, I thought the rules of forums were:
1) If no quote present, then assume response is directed at post immediately above;
2) Otherwise see quoted text.

In this case, the "WRONG" was directed at the denigration of ketchup on eggs, steak, etc.

Agreed. I even have found it in tiny travel packets.