Spices & Condiments

Now you are playing on my court.   Mustard is my favorite condiment.  I love mustard. When I was a kid, I would just eat the mustard from a packet. No burger necessary. 


 I don't know your local store brand, but based on my experience, I believe you probably didn't waste your money. French's is a very good "American" mustard. These tend to be heavy on vinegar and tumeric.  I have bought a bottle of Heinz to compare with French's.  For a different style of mustard, I like Gulden's Spicey Brown mustard. I am not a big fan of Honey Mustard, but it is also popular. 

The best mustard I ever had was from France. It was not one of the Dijon mustards which are popular, It was smooth mustard in a smallish glass jar with a color somewhat lighter than Spicy Brown mustard, if I recall correctly. I can't recall the brand as it has been 25 or 30 years since I had it. It was introduced to me by a French chef friend. He was a real chef and his restaurant had a Michelin star. He is the best cook I have ever known. He was also something of a nut, but one expects that from a great chef. 

I could go on about mustards, but believe you get the message. 

You are reminding me of my little brother who, when we would go out to a restaurant as a family, would eat the parsley from everyone's plate.

No, a lot of those "honey mustards" are just crap. I think they just take a very low quality mustard, add sugar (perhaps some honey as well), as the sweatening effect is all that the Cretan taste buds require. Yes, a bit of a snob. But that is likely the truth of it.

I'm sure I've tried Guldan's spicey brown. With the right food, I think it goes well. When making egg salad, that's when simple French's mustard really shines. Not much. Just a little. The Gulden's web page shows mustard on a burger. That is orthodox. I turn up my nose at the Proletariat who uses ketchup (or perhaps catsup...life is indeed complicated) on a burger. That is not sacrilege, per se, but I do believe it to be in bad taste. Ketchup (or catsup) is best reserved for French fries. I'm sure a fight could break out in this regard, but I expect some will catch up.

This is how the French and Belgians eat French Fries. 



Mdm. Flu likes this. I generally prefer ketchup. That said, I often mix mustard with mayonnaise or ketchup. I also add hot sauce to ketchup very often. 

That reminds my of this. 

Dirty Harry

I would never have figured that Dirty Harry would come up in a discussion of condiments. But he's right. Ketchup has no place on a hotdog. Haven't seen that movie in years...perhaps only once. Gotta see if I can find that anywhere on Roku.

It would be best not to watch the following, but you started it. The intro's not bad.



They were first named "Goofballs running around on stage without a shirt" but that name didn't catch on, so they named it after a well-known condiment. The title of the song itself could be VDH-approved. Have to ask  him.

I do like a good spicy sauce. And that is one of my go-to in the spice cabinet. Another go-to is McClards pepper sauce. A few drops rubbed on a steak or burger makes the meal. A good Berger, in my world has lettuce, tomato, onions and the best mayo you can find mixed with just a little yellow mustard. Mustard the cheap yellow kind and never ketchup goes best on a hot dog, hot link, or brat with onions. One of the joys of baseball is a warm summer day, a good double header and hot dogs that hav been grilling since the season opener. The only thing to make it better is play-by-play with the Cubs and Harry Carry, 7th inning stretch and take me out to the ball game. Sadly, Harry has gone to the great announcer booth and the Wrigley Field is not the same. 

www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?&q=harry+carey+take+me+out+to+the+ball+gme&qpvt=harry+carey+take+me+out+to+the+ball+gme&mid=B6F3895F33E5AAD8D928B6F3895F33E5AAD8D928&&FORM=VRDGAR

McClards pepper sauce. The price is reasonable but shipping and handling would bring me to $20.95. But I'm sure it'd be worth it.



We are definitely on the same page, gastronomically. That sounds like a good burger.

Speaking of knuckle-dragging Southerners and unreconstructed Graycoats, for dinner I had an egg on a piece of Texas Toast with some cream cheese. I think it was this brand. I got it at Winco.

But it occurred to me that this toast might have as much to do with Texas as igloos or panda bears. But it's not bad. Full of salt and fat. What's not to like?

This is a completely Southern desert. I believe it originates in GA. It is a rather tough pie dough that softens after frying, wrapped around a filling, generally fruit but could be chocolate, and deep fried until crisp. Most people make them about 6 inches long and 3-4 inches wide and served with homemade vanilla ice cream are one of the delights of Southern cooking. 

Two bottles of McClard's pepper sauce are on their way to your humble abode My guess is sometime the end of this week or first part of next. Consider it a gift for Passover. If the angel of death had a whiff of this he would surely pass over. 

Wow. Thanks. I may do some hamburgers just to use the sauce. I will make my special Angel of Death burgers. In respect for the holiday, no bacon, of course, but definitely some cheese and probably avocado.

I'll see if Winco has any hamburger buns worth a darn. Without a good bun, the hamburger is not a hamburger. Looking forward to getting sauced.