Flavors to Relish

Consumers want convenience, but served with zest and variety. Condiments help meet these needs by adding textural and visual qualities to foods.

Asians consider condiments a must with meals -- from simple chile flakes, pickled garlic or sesame-soy sauce to concoctions of shredded carrot, ginger, tamarind, lemon grass, fish sauce, shrimp paste and fragrant herbs. Popular types include Chinese plum sauce, Japanese ponzu, kimchi, Filipino green papaya relish, Vietnamese nuoc cham, Malaysian sambal belacan or Thai chile-garlic sauce. They enjoy pickled and spicy condiments made with radish, carrot, cabbage, garlic, and fruits, and/or cucumber with vinegar, fermented bean paste, rice wine, chiles, ginger and spring onions. Koreans serve kimchi, or pickled vegetables, with every meal. Chojung, made from red chiles, garlic, sesame oil, vinegar and fresh coriander leaves, is essential for fried fish, grilled meats and dumplings.

Southeast Asian condiments are pungent and hotter, made primarily with chiles, sautéed shallots and/or dried shrimps. The ubiquitous sambals -- sambal olek, sambal belacan, sambal trassi, or sambal badjak -- are made with turmeric, lime juice, dried shrimp, soy sauce, palm sugar, lemon grass, bird peppers, cilantro, and/or tamarind. Acars, crunchy, spicy, pickled fruits or vegetables, combine cucumber, bean sprouts, carrot, papaya, pineapple, chiles, shallots, cabbage or radish with spices and flavorings. India's acars balance flavor with unlimited variations: mixed vegetable, green chile, lime, mango, onions and even shrimp, pork and meats. They are preserved in mustard, sesame or vegetable oil with vinegar, and spices, such as black mustard seeds, nigella, turmeric, cayenne, ginger, garlic and fennel seeds. Chutneys -- tomato, mango, eggplant, mint and cilantro, coconut, and ginger with tamarind -- tone down the "fire" in spicy meals and form dipping sauces.

Latino condiments, usually made from tomatoes, tomatillos, onions, cilantro, chiles, dried shrimp, lime juice or manioc, include uncooked, tomato-based salsa cruda, and salsa verde, salsa rojo, chipotle salsa, toasted manioc flour, anchovy sauce or pickled habanero-onion.

In Puerto Rico, ajilimojili, a garlic, sweet pepper and lemon sauce, is served with suckling pig, while mojito isleno, with onions, olives and tomato sauce, pairs with cod fritters. In Cuba and the Dominican Republic, garlic and lemon juice with black pepper, called mojo, is typical for boiled viandas and fried chicken.

  Every Latin American region has a hot pepper condiment or salsa picante: pebre from Chile, Columbian salsa de aji, Brazilian malagueta peppers in dende oil, Argentina's chimmichurra, ixni-pec from Mexico or Ecuador's peanuty salsa di mani.

Creole sauce, hot pepper sauces, chutneys and pickled hot peppers, made with Scotch bonnet chiles, mustard, tomato, garlic, onions or shallots, are offered at Caribbean tables for meat and seafood, or as dips for cod fritters. There's green-papaya or green-mango chutney from Jamaica, papaya-turmeric-mustard sauce from Barbados, and sauce chien, with Scotch bonnets, thyme, garlic and chives.

Susheela Raghavan, president of Horizons Consulting LLC, a New Rochelle, NY-based food-consulting firm, develops   "new" ethnic and American products for U.S. and global markets. Contact her via e-mail at [email protected], or by visiting www.SusheelaConsulting.com.

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