What condiments do you keep in stock? (Or sauces or pastes or a rose by any other name) For what cuisines and/or dishes?

[linguafood (Natascha)]

@eleeper

You folks all have enormous kitchens.

Clearly, we do. Some earlier threads on the topic

Hot sauces: what are you eating now? How many is too many?

Let’s hear it folks… What are you currently into and how many sauces are in your “line up?” I will take a pic soon. I think I might have to thin down my selection…or maybe not I seem to accumulate them and then even after consuming them at home and “donating” them to the community fridges at work, I still seem to have too many. I hope we can get some new ideas from this thread.

Favorite neutral cooking oils

Normally I cook with olive oil or canola oil, depending on the cuisine/recipe. My cooking is primarily California-style, with some Italian occasionally. But I recently read that canola isn’t a good one to use because it is so highly processed. Is there another reasonably priced oil that you like? What about avocado oil? I’ve seen that in the stores. I’m using these for sauteeing, and I don’t do any super high temp or deep frying. There is an overwhelming amount of info online, but I trust my fel…

Your Fav Oils - What Do You Always Have/Like/Use?

I try to keep as few on hand as possible, but here are my killers… California Olive Ranch EVOO 100% CA - I use this for almost everything (except traditional frying). Even when recipes call for neutral oil, the dish is always better with this stuff. Colavita Canola - Pan frying. I don’t deep fry, but this works/tastes great for the shallow frying I do. Sesame - Don’t buy/stock it… but have seeds on hand that I toast and Vitamix with EVOO when I need it. Others I like but rarely have on hand… …

Your Fav Vinegars - What Do You Always Have/Like/Use?

Here we go again… (c; Like oils, I try to keep as few on hand as possible, but my likes are… Heinz Distilled - Used alot, mostly with sugars and citrus in asian dishes and sauces, plus my fav Chinese chicken salad. Colavita Prosseco Wine - Dressings and sauces where I want a bit more sparkle, sweetness, and complexity. Marukan Seasoned Rice Vinegar - Super versatile. Sauces and dressings where I want a tangier, deeper flavor. I’ll also use it as a replacement for sherry vinegar with a pinch o…

Ketchups and Mustards and any other condiments you love

[image][image]I saw these 2 brands of ketchup and was intrigued. Has anybody tried either? I thought maybe I’d start an all purpose condiments thread.

Mayonnaise

Recommend me a good one. I have access to lots of choices including TJ and Aldi, Japanese, (tried Kewpie, et al), Latin, etc. I’ve been using Dukes for years but I’m hoping there’s something better. Whatcha got?

BBQ Sauces - Supermarket favorites and beyond?

What raises my transplanted Southern eyebrow is a commercial product that uses a prepared product like Worcestershire sauce. Vinegar, molasses, oily fish, tamarind, allium, … sure. Great Grandma Margaret’s BBQ sauce at a farmers market with Worcestershire sauce in it, sure. If Kraft decided to use the Lee & Perrins brand on a line of barbecue sauce and cross promote, okay. Otherwise, at commercial scale, I don’t see anything to be proud of by using and citing Worcestershire sauce, and I’d wonde…

Salsas…

I make a bunch of them (fresh/roasted, tomato/tomatillo. dry/fresh chiles, etc.), but my fav when I can actually get sweet, ripe, fresh tomatoes is totally fresh with diced tomatoes/white onion/cilantro/jalapeno/garlic/lime juice. Great with chips, tacos, tostadas, and in guac. So what is your favorite salsa, and where/how do you use it?

How do you use "Gourmet" salt for cooking and finishing?

How do you use “gourmet” salt for cooking and finishing? I have a thing for “gourmet” salt and when I see them I have to resist my urge to buy them. To me, these salts have a more nuanced flavor compared to good old table salt. So I mostly use them for finishing dishes where the flavor of the salt stands out more. There are many “gourmet” salt- fleur de sel, sel gris, Cyprus flake, maldon, Himalayan, Alaea, Hawaiian black, Peruvian pink, kala namak, etc. The question for the group is, do yo…

And one for homemade:

What are your all-time favorite homemade condiments / dipping sauces / accoutrements?

Inspired by this thread, what are your favorite homemade condiments / sauces? Besides workhorses like mayo and tartar sauce, what are some of your creations you would eat a shoe with? My candidates in no particular order: chimichurri Peruvian green sauce (with added bird peppers cuz we like it hawttt) nuoc cham nam jim talay / jaew hollandaise & béarnaise flavored mayo (the possibilities are endless) anchoiade zhoug toum Let’s get saucy!