How Will You Define Condiments?
How Will You Define Condiments? Condiments can be defined as things that are added to give prepared food more flavors. They usually take the form of sauces, dips, or spreads. People don’t always agree on what should be considered a condiment, though.
For example, jelly and jam are usually considered condiments, but peanut butter is not. Likewise, salsa is usually considered a condiment, while guacamole is not. Regardless of these somewhat-arbitrary lines, condiments definitely do the job when it comes to imparting additional flavor to the foods we eat.
Can you imagine French fries without ketchup? In other parts of the world, however, people eat French fries with malt vinegar or mayonnaise. When you consider condiments on a global scale, you’ll quickly realize that ketchup and mustard are just two popular condiments amongst hundreds of flavorings from around the world.
A trip down the food aisles at your local supermarket will reveal a whole host of condiments, including ketchup, mustard’s, relishes, mayonnaise, hot sauces, jams, jellies, salsas, and sauces from soy to barbecue.
In America, many people assume that ketchup is the most popular condiment. After all, it goes great with so many foods, from French fries and hot dogs to hamburgers and onion rings. Who doesn’t love ketchup?
As it turns out, Americans do love ketchup. But there are a couple of other condiments that they like even more. Over a decade ago, news agencies reported that salsa had passed ketchup in overall sales. They pointed to an increase in the popularity of Hispanic cuisine as a primary factor.
The influence of other cultures has also contributed to the popularity of other condiments. For example, soy sauce sales aren’t far behind ketchup sales these days. Despite these advances from other cultures, there’s still one condiment that reigns supreme with sales that are nearly double those of other popular condiments: mayonnaise!