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Poal: King of Condiments?

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Undisputed heavyweight champion of condiments is....

  • ketchup

    Votes: 17 30.9%

  • mustard (any type)

    Votes: 7 12.7%

  • BBQ (sauce, rubbings, etc)

    Votes: 4 7.3%

  • mayo

    Votes: 12 21.8%

  • hot sauce (any type)

    Votes: 9 16.4%

  • Latino (salsa, adobo, pico de gallo, etc)

    Votes: 4 7.3%

  • Indian (curry, chutney, etc.)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • sweet or astringent (maple syrup, malt vinegar, pepper jelly, etc)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Asian (sweet and sour, wasabi, fish sauce, etc)

    Votes: 2 3.6%

  • specialty sauce (tartar, worchestshire, etc).

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    55
lxskllr said:
That would be my second choice after hot sauce if it makes you feel any better. Ketchup could disappear from the planet, and the only way I'd know is my fastfood burgers would start tasting better.
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You get a pass since you voted hot sauce.

Herr Kutz said:
Are we discussing taste only or overall ability to be used on the most amount of foods?
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Well somehow mayo is ahead by a mile so clearly people only care about versatility. I just don't think mayo stands up well enough on its own as a condiment to compliment whatever it's paired with. It's too often used to just to make up some deficiency in the original food like blandness and dryness by adding fat rather than actual flavor. If the option said Mayo & Aioli I might let it slide.
 
I'd say Ketchup, just because it's the most widely used. I personally like to sometimes substitute it with hot sauce though, whatever I have on hand. Franks Red Hot is great for dipping fries into. It's not overly powerful hot but still has a good flavour.

Some like mustard are only really specific to a few uses. Like the only thing I can really think of that I use it for is hot dogs (along with ketchup and relish) and pogo sticks (along with ketchup). Ketchup is more versatile in that it's used for fries too and many other uses.
 
lxskllr said:
How does that compare to Colman's mustard powder? Looks good.
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Dunno. This stuff tastes really good though, best hot dog mustard I've ever used although it's much more versatile than that. Unfortunately it's not very shelf stable and loses heat quickly, but still tastes pretty good.
 
It really depends on the food in question, because ketchup on fries is great, but yellow mustard on fries is not so much fun. If I had to pick one, I'd have to say mayo:

1. Good on a variety of sandwiches (cold-cut, panini, grinders, burgers, etc.)

2. Good on various meats (lobster roll, tuna salad, chicken salad, egg salad, deviled eggs, etc., plus stuff like coleslaw, if you're into that)

3. Can be modified easily in various ways (mixed with ketchup to make basic fry sauce, garlic aioli, kewpie for Asian dishes & spicy kewpie for stuff like spicy tuna sushi rolls, etc.)

4. Used for crisping (searing steak for a nice crust, as a replacement for butter on the outside of a grilled cheese sandwich to make it super-crispy, etc.)

5. Hellman's is pretty universal, but also incredibly easy to make using an immersion blender

What is also interesting with things like say ketchup, where I pretty much only use it on fries, burgers, and hot dogs, is that some companies really do have bottled magic - like, I really only like Heinz for ketchup. I've tried a bunch of different brands, I've tried making it at home...Heinz or bust, man. I make homemade mayo from time to time, but Hellman's has the right recipe figured out for me, so I usually just snag a bottle of that & modify it, if needed. And while I use it often, it's not like I'm going through buckets a day, so a medium-sized bottle will last me a pretty good while.

P.S. - Grey Poupon is amazing. My only regret is not trying it sooner!
 
Kaido said:
5. Hellman's is pretty universal, but also incredibly easy to make using an immersion blender

What is also interesting with things like say ketchup, where I pretty much only use it on fries, burgers, and hot dogs, is that some companies really do have bottled magic - like, I really only like Heinz for ketchup. I've tried a bunch of different brands, I've tried making it at home...Heinz or bust, man. I make homemade mayo from time to time, but Hellman's has the right recipe figured out for me, so I usually just snag a bottle of that & modify it, if needed. And while I use it often, it's not like I'm going through buckets a day, so a medium-sized bottle will last me a pretty good while.

P.S. - Grey Poupon is amazing. My only regret is not trying it sooner!
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How similar does that homemade mayo taste compared to Hellman's? Between that and ketchup I could knock about 400 calories of my intake if I went homemade.

Same here, tried a bunch of different ketchup (mostly low sugar) and they taste terrible compared to Heinz. Though interesting enough the last bottle of Hellman's I bought came with a packet of their new ketchup and it tasted pretty good.
 
Wow, the two nastiest ones, IMO, are both the leaders.
Mayo and ketchup.

Bet some of you actually put that on hot dogs. Don't lie now. 😛
 
I have about 8 different mustards in my fridge right now, but this is almost always the first one that I think to grab. I love this stuff.

ARcTNi4.jpg
 
Hot sauce. I'm generally not a fan of ketchup. Mayo and mustard are fine, BBQ sauce is good in moderation. I don't like Indian flavors, so that stuff can go out the window.
 
paperfist said:
How similar does that homemade mayo taste compared to Hellman's? Between that and ketchup I could knock about 400 calories of my intake if I went homemade.

Same here, tried a bunch of different ketchup (mostly low sugar) and they taste terrible compared to Heinz. Though interesting enough the last bottle of Hellman's I bought came with a packet of their new ketchup and it tasted pretty good.
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Pretty different. For starters, it's super creamy, like an aioli. Second, the flavor is very basic because it's all fresh, raw ingredients (note that commercial eggs are pasteurized in America), whereas Hellman's uses specific ingredients & a particular process to get the thicker texture & slight tanginess that their mayo has. But it's cool because you can blend in garlic or adjust the salt to your liking or basically take it in whatever direction you want to.
 
I make mayo too, usually from a blend of olive and avocado oil, egg yolk, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. But it never tastes as good as Best Foods/Hellmann's, though to be fair, they've had more time to perfect their recipe, even if their main ingredient is crap.
 
BurnItDwn said:
Hmm,
I think I like habanero or ghost pepper based hot sauces or chilli pastes the best. It can be something somewhat mild like El Yucateco red or green, somewhere in the middle like Blairs After Death Sauce, or can be stuff with a bit more intensity like Daves ...
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wtf man, is your throat lined with lead? El Yukateco red isn't mild....you're trying to compare it to Texas Pete? lol.
 
Kaido said:
Pretty different. For starters, it's super creamy, like an aioli. Second, the flavor is very basic because it's all fresh, raw ingredients (note that commercial eggs are pasteurized in America), whereas Hellman's uses specific ingredients & a particular process to get the thicker texture & slight tanginess that their mayo has. But it's cool because you can blend in garlic or adjust the salt to your liking or basically take it in whatever direction you want to.
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Thanks dude, I'm going to try it anyway. Condiments are like soda to me, bad, bad, bad.

I guess the only downside from what I've read before is it doesn't last very (fresh) long. Plus it will give me an excuse to buy an immersion blender.
 
paperfist said:
Thanks dude, I'm going to try it anyway. Condiments are like soda to me, bad, bad, bad.

I guess the only downside from what I've read before is it doesn't last very (fresh) long. Plus it will give me an excuse to buy an immersion blender.
Click to expand...

Nah, it's good, just different from Hellman's. Hellman's is thick, whereas homemade is super creamy. This is a good immersion blender for under $40 shipped:

https://www.amazon.com/Epica-Heavy-Duty-Immersion-Blender/dp/B00WIRLXUE/

You get:

1. 350-watt handheld blender with blades
2. Tube bottle for doing stuff like emulsions (i.e. making homemade mayo)
3. Single whisk (useful for stuff like making whipped cream, whisking eggs, etc.)
4. Mini food processor (useful for stuff like chopping small amounts of garlic or nuts or veggies)

It's nice because you can use it in pots, too. I use it in my Instant Pot for stuff like sweet potato bisque, butternut squash soup, applesauce, etc. Try out my Burger Sauce if you pick one up:

https://forums.anandtech.com/thread...-5-guys-take-out.2395312/page-3#post-36617905
 
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