By novel I mean things beyond the most commonly used ones (at least in the US): mustard, ketchup, relish, mayo, etc.
Horseradish is used a little less commonly, but I like it on roast beef sandwiches. I recently picked up a bottle of Dietz & Watson Cranberry Horseradish that was on display at my market’s deli counter. It’s a combination that I never in a million years would have considered but it’s quite tasty! I also sometimes buy horseradish with beets which to me tastes no different than plain horseradish, but beets supposedly have healthy phytonutrients so why not?
What other novel condiments or combinations are worth checking out?
I never would have considered tartar sauce for anything other than fish, but that sounds like it might be good. I do use russian dressing on burgers sometimes, maybe I’ll try it on fries.
The mention of tartar sauce makes me think of cocktail sauce, which I use pretty much exclusively for things like shrimp. It might be interesting to try it with non-seafood.
The use of tartar sauce with french fries is pretty common in the Pacific Northwest. In fact, I believe it may have originated here. Several regional burger chains (e.g., Zip’s, Kidd Valley, and Burgermaster) even offer tartar sauce along with ketchup with their fries.
As for novel uses of condiments, if I have plain Triscuits, I’m strongly tempted to put them in a bowl, drench them with Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce, sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese, and put it in the microwave for at least a minute until the Triscuits are hot and soaked with with the Worcestershire and melted cheese. It’s one of my favorite snacks but, alas, I had to stop doing it after a member of my family compared the resulting odor to mustard gas.
Worcestershire sauce has been covered. What about brown sauce, like HP Sauce?
Also, is the OP familiar with chutney? This is a whole family of condiments, from simple homemade salsas through the commercialy-made and quite common Major Grey’s to that ne plus ultra of condiments, Mrs Ball’s, the mere mention of which will bring tears to many a South African ex-pat’s eyes (although there are some who prefer the Wellington’s brand).
Keep you mustards and ketchups or your oh-so-trendy srirachas. Chutney for me, thanks.
I’ve had HP Sauce but it seemed a little too sweet for me. I might give it another chance though.
This probably isn’t that novel but I like to put Tabasco Sauce on my BLTs or, when I find myself not giving a fuck about my health, hash browns with sausage gravy. The hotness of the Tabasco and the saltiness of the BLT or sausage gravy compliment each other nicely.
I put thinly sliced hot chilies on burgers - a layer pressed into the ketchup, which has been spread on the bottom piece of bun. Ever since I tried a chili burger from a street vendor on a night out in Spain, one without a bit of hot burn is disappointing.
My other go-to ‘treat’ (they’re both quite high in calories) is a mature cheddar cheese and piccalilli sandwich.
And a teaspoon of Marmite and dark chocolate are great in chilli con carne.
Here in the Puget Sound area, most local burger chains (e.g. Dick’s) blend the tartar sauce with mustard. I don’t know if there’s an actual name for that particular combo - Dick’s just calls it “tartar sauce”, and my favorite burger place in Olympia calls it “goop”, and some places just call it “fry sauce” despite it being completely different from what everyone else calls fry sauce.
I’ve seen it here, but it’s not common. It needs to be a supermarket that has at least a couple of Irish and UK shelves in the international section. I believe I last saw it either at Meijer or Whole Foods. It would help if I remembered where I last bought my jar of Branston pickle. It was there along with the Jaffa cakes, the double devon cream, Marmite, etc. ETA: May have been Cost Plus World Market.
As for the OP, half my fridge seems to be condiments, and half of that is various hot sauces. Of stuff that hasn’t been mentioned as is somewhat interesting: violet mustard (a mustard blended with red grape must), some kind of Bombay sandwich spread (it’s somewhat like a mint & coriander/cilantro chutney), Lizano salsa (a Costa Rican brown sauce made of vegetables and spices), ajvar (a Balkan mix mainly of roasted red peppers and eggplant), and ajika (a Georgian hot pepper paste.)
While probably not traditionally thought of as a condiment, everyone here in Colorado use green chili sauce in the same manner you’d use one. I myself like it on eggs or sometimes on burgers. I’ve seen folks use it on hot dogs, pork chops, any meat, really, and even on veggies or fried potatoes.
Sure it is; just maybe not where you’re from. My local Kroger has it on the shelves on the “International” aisle, along with quite a few British things, like Branston Pickle, salad cream, etc…