Condiments - Affinities with meats

Condiments are divided into five categories:

1. Acidic - lemon juice, flavoured vinegars and other foods canned in vinegar such as capers, pickles and ketchup.
2. Bitter – raw or cooked root vegetables like raw or cooked onion, garlic, dry mustard and horseradish.
3. Fatty - vegetable or animal oils, butter, or fat.
4. Saline – substances of mineral origin used for flavouring and preserving food.
5. Sweet - vegetable substances which include every form of sugar.

Garlic
Highly aromatic flavour that becomes lighter and sweeter with cooking. Garlic is used in stews, with lamb, pork, beef and any type of salty dishes. Garlic imparts Spanish and Italian flavours to recipes. It is indispensable in Provençale cuisine.

Capers
A flower bud pickled that has a salty flavour. It is often used to aromatize poultry, lamb and giblets, especially brains, instilling a Mediterranean touch to recipes.

Tomato paste or concentrate
Product used to thicken sauces and flavour dishes.

Gherkins
A variety of small, prickly cucumbers soaked in brine. They are used to flavour sauces and ground meat dishes.

Harissa
Very hot chili paste used to flavour ground meats, lamb, and stews. Dilute in olive oil and a little lemon juice to use as a marinade.

Mustard
Prepared mustard has a strong flavour. Its beautiful bright yellow colour is obtained by the addition of turmeric, not mustard seeds. It is often used with beef, horse meat, lamb, veal, pork, rabbit, poultry, ostrich, emu, and kidneys.

Horseradish
Hot pungent white sauce than can act as a substitute for mustard. It is mostly used in stews and with roasted meats, particularly beef.

Oyster sauce
This sauce is a blend of soy sauce and dried oysters that pairs especially well with pork.

Szechuan sauce
A blend of soy sauce and ginger that is very spicy and used in Oriental dishes.

Soy sauce
Soy sauce has a salty flavour. Pairs well with pork. Mixed with garlic, ginger, vinegar and the oil, use as a marinade.

Tabasco sauce
Very hot sauce used with meats, poultry and stews.

Tamari sauce
Salty flavoured sauce. Use with beef.

Teriyaki sauce
Flavourful sauce that will enhance the taste of beef and chicken grills.

Worcestershire sauce
Salty flavour. Enhances the taste of beef and horse meat.

Vinegar
Bitter-sweet flavour. Except for white vinegar, all other vinegars are interchangeable and add different aromas to dishes.

Balsamic vinegar
Made from sweet grape must, it is cooked slowly, before the sugar is transformed into alcohol. Add to the cooking juices of calf's liver for a flavourful accent.

Wasabi
A Japanese root that is grated and reduced to a paste. It is slightly milder than horseradish and used the same way. Wasabi is sold in powder (to mix with water) and in paste.