# What condiments do other cultures and nations use that may seem odd to north Americans **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 19, 2011, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774 "2011-12-19T21:43:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/101 "2011-12-21T00:55:03Z")
I’ve seen and been served these sort of abominations in Japan: > **[Pizza Hut Japan](http://www.wtfjapanseriously.com/2010/03/pizza-hut-japan.html)** > > Weird Japanese videos and images ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/102 "2011-12-21T01:22:27Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > Down here in the Southern US we have “pepper sauce” which is vinegar flavored with hot peppers. For spicing up greens. Usually from [Trappey’s](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21cfVITpp9L._SL500_AA300_.jpg). Hard to find any place there isn’t a sizable contingent of Southerners. The peppers from the jar are also good on salads and in bean dishes. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/103 "2011-12-21T04:34:20Z")
I think that it’s very hard to measure the relative spiciness of food in the U.S. and the U.K. In both countries, the average spiciness of typical food has increased considerably over the past forty or forty-five years. The foods in each country which typify spiciness are so different that it’s difficult to compare them. Incidentally, salsa passed ketchup as the most common condiment in American supermarkets years ago. Another problem in comparing the U.S. and the U.K. is that people tend to pick certain small groups of Americans as the “real” Americans and assuming that they obviously are representative of most Americans and of their tastes. While it may be true that there are some small-town WASP Midwesterners who seldom eat spicy foods, there aren’t that many of them in comparison to, say, the number of Hispanics. Just compare the number of Hispanics in the U.S. with the number of South Asians in the U.K. There are about three times the percentage of Hispanics in the U.S. (10-12 percent) as there are South Asians in the U.K. (3-4 percent). ---
**Author:** ![coffinjumper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8baadc/32.png) [@coffinjumper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffinjumper)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/104 "2011-12-21T06:02:41Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > You don’t like butter on bread? 😕 Butter on bread is fine. If it’s very thinly spread. I’m not a big fan of overly being able to taste the butter. I can even be persuaded to put butter on fruit bread, as long as it’s warm enough the butter melts. It’s the mixing the taste of butter with other toppings that gets me. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/105 "2011-12-21T07:13:50Z")
In Cameroon, there are three essential table condiments. One is Maggi sauce. Maggi sauce, and it’s beloved cousin the Maggi (bullion) cube have pretty much become the foundation of traditional Cameroonian cuisine. Even in the tiny “lady on a blanket” market by my house, which caters to families too poor to afford more than a tiny pinch of salt at a time, sells Maggi cube- sometimes ground up and divided for those who can’t pay for a whole one. Maggi cube is just that important. If you can’t afford anything at all, you still can’t scrimp on Maggi. Often cheaper restaurants will water down their Maggi sauce, or make fake Maggi sauce by grinding up Maggi cube (or it’s cheap Nigerian imitators) and mixing it with water. The other condiment is piment (or pepe or ceta, depending on who you are talking to.) This comes in two interchangeable varieties- powdered or sauce. This unholy hot concoction is made from scotch bonnet peppers mixed with a little bit of maggi cube and salt. The sauce form is mixed with generous dollops of palm oil, garlic and maybe a touch of tomato sauce. It’s so hot that a tiny button sized portion can render a dish barely edible. It’s great for disguising the taste of slightly bad meat, offal or various insects that you may be served. Piment comes with everything- your breakfast beans, stewed greens, meat, boiled eggs, etc. Then comes mayo. Cameroon loves mayo. Omelettes, a popular street snack, come with a big dollop of it. Baguette with mayo is a common treat. On a lucky day, your hard boiled egg (purchased off a crate carried on a child’s head) will come with mayo. It turns out that mayo can sit in the sun without a fridge around for miles and not kill you. Who knew! In South West China, you will get quite a few condiments with a meal. This often includes a spice dish holding salt, crushed red pepper, and MSG (mmmm!). You probably will also get a cup of hot pepper sauce and a small pitcher of vinegar (which cuts the heat of the incredibly spicy local cuisine.) ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/106 "2011-12-21T08:07:22Z")
So far no one has mentioned [garum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garum), a fermented fish sauce which was considered a universal condiment in Ancient Rome and Greece: > [@Wikipedia](#): > > Garum was prepared from the intestines of small fishes, macerated in salt and cured in the sun for one to three months, where the mixture fermented and liquified in the dry warmth, the salt inhibiting the common agents of decay… While the finished product was apparently mild and subtle in flavor—the _nobile garum_ of Martial’s epigram—the actual production of garum created such unpleasant smells as to become relegated to the outskirts of cities so that the neighbors would not be offended by the odour. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/107 "2011-12-21T08:20:47Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > But how old is this meme of Indian as the dominant British cuisine? And is it _national_ or more specific to London and other large cities? > > I ask because a friend’s then girlfriend ( later wife ) was English and visiting the States back in ~1987 and she thought what to me was unremarkable Mexican food was searingly spicy. Virtually inedible for her. Further she claimed that spicy food was not the norm in England. I believed her and filed that bit of trivia away, only to hear years later that it wasn’t true, with the “Indian is the national cuisine” being trotted out as a rebuttal. So I wonder if a shift in palates has occurred over the last couple of decades or if she was just clueless. Interesting article for you from the BBC: > **[BBC News - How Britain got the hots for curry](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8370054.stm)** > > The British have long enjoyed food with a bit of bite. And 200 years ago, an Indian migrant opened Britain's first curry house to cater for the fashion for spicy food. Where I come from (Warwickshire in the Midlands), curry sauce, a sort of generic brown/green spicy sauce, is extremely popular in fish and chip shops. I used to work in one around 1989 and we sold far more of that than the traditional mushy peas. Apparently there was a comedy show on TV called “Curry and Chips” in 1969, so it was probably already well established by then: > **[Curry and Chips](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curry_and_Chips)** > > Curry and Chips is a British television sitcom broadcast in 1969 which was produced by London Weekend Television for the ITV network. > Set on a factory floor of 'Lillicrap Ltd', it starred a browned up Spike Milligan as an Irishman of Pakistani heritage named Kevin O'Grady, who also featured in episode 7 of the fifth series of Speight's Till Death Us Do Part. It also featured Eric Sykes as the foreman, Norman Rossington as the shop steward; other regulars were Kenny Lynch, and Sam Kydd. The se... A picture from the interwebs: [![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LtZpONhAT7U/Tb2vB1NVxvI/AAAAAAAAADM/b8h9DPyyp64/s1600/417.img.jpg) ](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LtZpONhAT7U/Tb2vB1NVxvI/AAAAAAAAADM/b8h9DPyyp64/s1600/417.img.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/108 "2011-12-21T09:14:19Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > So far no one has mentioned [garum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garum), a fermented fish sauce which was considered a universal condiment in Ancient Rome and Greece: From what I understand, it was basically Worcestershire sauce. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/109 "2011-12-21T09:26:09Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > If an American said something like “vinegar is as strong as BATTERY ACID” wouldn’t you be wondering what is so different about their experience to make them say that about a relatively bland, mild substance? I’d assume someone had slipped them balsamic vinegar. Which I’ve seen on the table in some posh restaurants here in the UK. Doesn’t work as well on chips though. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/110 "2011-12-21T09:51:54Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > This isn’t a condiment, but Israelis frequently eat salad with breakfast (as do other middle eastern countries). And [this stuff](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amba_%28condiment%29) (an actual condiment) is disgusting. Amba is not a ubiquitous condiment here (and I share your disdain for it…) > [@Johanna](#): > > Harissa is a Moroccan hot sauce made of fresh hot red chili peppers puréed with garlic and lemon juice, with a little salt, cumin, and coriander. Topped with a little olive oil. It’s a major flavor bomb. Known as “Arissa” here in Israel – roughly the same status as Amba (i.e., you’ll rarely find in on the table, more likely on the condiment stand of a falafel or shwarma joint), but with the difference that it’s actually edible 😉 Another hot condiment used here is “Zhuk” – which may really just be a slightly different version of Arissa. But the major ones are Humus (which replaces butter or mayo as the spread of choice in sandwiches) and Tehina (which will often be used in lieu of ketchup or salad dressing.) And of course, like in the rest of the Mediterranean region, olive oil gets quite a lot of use, too. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/111 "2011-12-21T10:05:35Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > So far no one has mentioned [garum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garum), a fermented fish sauce which was considered a universal condiment in Ancient Rome and Greece: See post #38 ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/112 "2011-12-21T10:08:51Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > I have heard it said that honey mustard is rare outside the U.S. I admit I didn’t see it in germany, but I also never asked, so YMMV. Well, yes. The bright yellow, prepared “French’s Mustard” type, sweet dressing/dipping sauce is pretty uniquely American (sometimes even made with Mayo). And then no, actual stoneground “condiment” Mustard sweetened with honey is a pretty ancient recipe in Germany and other parts of Europe. The standard “mustard” recipe was collecting mustard seeds and then grinding them and mixing it with, wine/beer, vinegar, and sometimes honey or other sweeteners or flavorings in varying quantities to cut the bite or make it outright sweet. Bavaria is pretty well known, as the home of Honey Mustard since 1854 for its sweet, stonegtound, coarse, mustard that one eats traditionally with weisswurst. I’ll bet der Adolf even used it. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/113 "2011-12-21T10:53:32Z")
From the outside in, I think a lot of foreigners, outside of Brits, might be pretty impressed, or slightly baffled, or even confused, at the most righteously awesome[array of condiments on every Wafflehouse counter/table](http://a4.ec-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/102/4ab874e3e307427ea50ea37db9227032/l.jpg)neatly arranged in a stainless wire caddy special made for the purpose. Lessee, there’s Lea Perrin’s Steak Sauce, Lea Perrin’s Worcestershire, Heinz Ketchup, Heinz 57 sauce, Tabasco, Yellow Mustard, and Waffle House’s housebrand salsa (which is pretty good with the hashbrowns). I’m trying to think if I forgot any… think that covers it. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/114 "2011-12-21T10:56:32Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > From what I understand, it was basically Worcestershire sauce. Not exactly. _Garum_ is more like _nam pla_ or similar SE-Asian fish sauces - mostly fish and salt, and it’s clear amber. “Wooster” is more “saucified” than that - it has sugar, colourings, vinegar, onions, and it’s dark and cloudy. Good stuff, but when I’m cooking Roman, it’s _nam pla_ I use as a substitute (I should get round to making my own _garum_ one of these days) One of the advantages of living in a mixed culture, like I did, is that we had quite a spread of condiments at home - my mom favoured tomato sauce (All Gold, there’s no other ketchup like it), my dad loved mango achar, my siblings favoured chutney (Mrs Balls Fruit Chutney, not like Indian restaurant chutneys at all), we always had Colmans Hot English and Lee&Perrin’s Worcestershire, 1000 Islands dressing and malt vinegar around. Melted butter and apricot jam for a fish braai. Now that I’ve grown up, I’ve added soy, _nam pla_, dukkah and EVOO-and-balsamic to that basic kit. More if I’m cooking ethnic, like plum and sweet chili for Chinese, satay for Thai, harissa for North African and steak sauce for BBQ. If I’m eating out, I expect at least oil-and-balsamic if there’s bread on the table. I ask for it if there isn’t. I think my condiment fridge space is larger than my grocery one. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/115 "2011-12-21T13:33:48Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Olive oil is fairly common as a table condiment around the Med. Especially in Italy and Spain - often alongside wine vinegar. But that’s for salad and some green vegetables, you’re not supposed to put it on other things - much less dunk your bread in it like I’ve seen Americans do in all seriousness, in Italian restaurants in the US. I’ve had American coworkers who were surprised that olive oil provided in restaurants in Spain or Italy was not in a small vessel into which they could dunk it. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Righteous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Dr.Righteous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Righteous)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/116 "2011-12-21T13:59:29Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > You probably had [curry ketchup](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curry_ketchup), which is commonly served on sausages and/or french fries. I suppose it was, but this brand was very sweet and cinnamon-y, and not very curry like. But that had to be it as I had fries on my plate (alongside some sort of shnitzel). I recall the ketchup in France weirding me out as well - I am just used to the more vinegary style. My friend recalls going into a McDonalds in Australia and nabbing some ketchup packets to take with her, because she found out they were carrying the US style whereas the local places had the sweeter version. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/117 "2011-12-21T14:03:54Z")
A number of US entrepreneurs have tried to add some variety to ketchup, but these efforts have largely failed. Americans appear to want their ketchup to be the same, everywhere & all the time. Which means Heinz or Heinz-like, it seems. [the Ketchup conundrum](http://www.gladwell.com/2004/2004_09_06_a_ketchup.html): More than you’ll want to know about trying to market specialty ketchups. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/118 "2011-12-21T15:08:27Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > Similarly [dukka](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duqqa), which is a dry powder of mixed nuts, herbs and spices. You dip bread in oil then in the dukka, and it’s utterly delicious. Love it. I was just about to post on the Italian equivalent. Sometimes I like buttered bread, but most often I have Italian bread dipped in olive oil, usually with herbs (or [_za‘tar_](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=612253)). For breakfast. Mediterranean food! THE BEST IN THE WORLD! ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/119 "2011-12-21T18:13:30Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > Bavaria is pretty well known, as the home of Honey Mustard since 1854 for its sweet, stonegtound, coarse, mustard that one eats traditionally with weisswurst. My favorite type of mustard is Sweet-Hot. Is that German or American? Also, how common is Sweet-Hot mustard in delis and sandwich shops outside of the Western U.S.? ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/120 "2011-12-21T18:38:50Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > My favorite type of mustard is Sweet-Hot. Is that German or American? Also, how common is Sweet-Hot mustard in delis and sandwich shops outside of the Western U.S.? There’s sweet mustard and hit mustard, and combinations thereof, if that’s what you mean. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774.md?page=7)