Roll up those sleeves and put the squeeze bottles on the shelf…this year, scratch made extends its reach to virtually everything on the plate. We’re talking bbq sauce, mayonnaise, mustard, aioli, even ketchup. A way to flaunt culinary creativity, the house-made condiment is “a cross between building a better product and an attempt to set a restaurant apart from the competition,” as the Denver Post reports. Here’s a quick look at some who have pulled away from the pack with condiments that are in the house and on the cutting edge, but never over the top.
Mayo that beats the spread. At Atlanta’s fast-casual Fresh To Order, that includes the mayonnaise, made more like aioli, with olive oil, lots of garlic, less salt, more pepper and a little more lemon. Used as a base for the chain’s popular sandwiches, variations include horseradish mayonnaise, tarragon mayonnaise, chile-avocado mayonnaise, and mustard mayonnaise. “Part of the appeal is that the condiments are still recognizable as mayonnaise, but better,” COO Jesse Gideon told Nation’s Restaurant News. “It’s definitely a secret to our success.”
The must-try mustard. We’ve moved well past honey mustard and yellow mustard to whole-grain, chile-spiced and Oriental varieties that bring a different kind of heat. Chef David J Alvarez, winner of Chef Hunter told me he would "never buy another premade mustard again" after he began makin his own. According to Flavor & the Menu, at Miami Beach’s Tongue & Cheek, housemade pretzels are paired with purple mustard (port wine, red wine and dried cherries cooked down with onion and Dijon), and the restaurant’s baked chicken skins are served with Japanese mustard (Colman’s mustard, seaweed, rice wine vinegar, sugar and lime juice). Portland’s Urban Farmer chef Matt Christianson pickles his mustard seeds until they’re plump, then tops braised mustard greens, kale, Swiss chard and collard greens with a mustard seed-onion relish; and uses the pickled seeds as a garnish to smoked salmon and vegetarian beet terrine. Chef James Rigato at Michigan’s The Root is equally creative, drawing attention for his Red Chile-Spiced Michigan Pork with coffee-and-cherry mustard, made with dried Michigan cherries, mustard seeds, Michigan beet sugar, coffee liquid, salt and water. “They are flavors that are familiar, but presented in a new way,” he told Flavor & the Menu. “The mustard cuts the rich flavors in the pork really nicely and adds a brightness to the dish.” Also on his mustard menu: béarnaise-style plum, green chile and tart cherry mustards, made with dry mustard powder, vinegar, sugar, spices and egg. At Vie Restaurant in Illinois, Chef Paul Virant calls his housemade mayonnaise a great little sauce, a savory complement to grilled chicken, pork or asparagus, according to Food and Wine. For added punch, Virant suggests adding a quarter cup of finely grated fresh horseradish and up to a half tablespoon of Sriracha chile-garlic sauce to the processor before adding the oil.
Ketchup catches up. Rigato also dabbles in housemade chipotle ketchup, which he serves with his ‘80s throwback dish, Wall Street Fries (as the menu says, “they mean business”). He sweats onions with chipotle and jalapeño peppers, adds sugar, vinegar and San Marzano tomatoes, simmers the mixture for about half an hour, then purées it, according to NRN. At Restaurant Marché in Washington, Chef Greg Atkinson makes all condiments in house, including the “justifiably legendary” ketchup and aioli, reports Eat Seattle. The ketchup is a closely held recipe, using red wine vinegar with a proprietary pickling spice blend, organic sugar, kosher salt and tomato paste, baked in a combi oven. At Hard Rock Café, Thai and honey chipotle ketchups are rocking the house; a housemade ketchup puts the right finish on Craigie on Main’s grass-fed patty on a housemade bun; at CharBar Co. in South Carolina, chef Charles Pejeau makes his own ketchup from the restaurant’s tomato scraps and a mix of ingredients that includes cloves, black pepper and Worcestershire sauce; at Plan Check Kitchen + Bar in Los Angeles, Chef Ernesto Uchimura is getting buzz with his housemade ketchup leather, dehydrated squares that sit freshly on burgers, with no sogginess; and back at Vie Restaurant, Chef Paul keeps ample supplies of his premium ketchup on hand, made with freshly canned tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, light brown sugar and smoked paprika.
For the heat seekers. Ethnic sauces, from Middle Eastern zhoug, a falafel stand staple, and skordalia, a Greek garlic sauce, get the housemade treatment from James Beard Award-winning chef Ana Sortun at Boston’s Oleana restaurant. Her zhoug features pumpkin seeds to thicken it and deepen the flavor, and her skordalia is made traditionally, with fluffy baking potatoes, blanched almonds and plenty of olive oil, and blended to achieve the desired silky consistency, according to Food and Wine. For zest American-style, there’s no more iconic barbecue sauce than Arthur Bryant’s Original and Rich & Spicy sauces, served at his KC joints since 1930. Back in the day, Arthur used to mix and store his sauce in big five-gallon glass jars, and the thick, pepper and garlic-intense flavor with no noticeable sweetness has won new legions of fans each decade, from President Harry Truman to Jack Nicholson, Wilt Chamberlain and Steven Spielberg. How good is it? Amazing Ribs shares this story: Mike was driving from KC and saw an elderly man walking on the side of the road. He asked if he would like a ride. With a silent nod of thanks, the elder got into the car. Mike tried in vain to make a bit of small talk with the man who just sat silently until he noticed a brown bag on the seat. "What’s in the bag?" asked the old man. Mike said, "It's a bottle of barbecue sauce from Arthur Bryant's. I got it for my wife." The old timer was silent for another moment or two. Then speaking with quiet wisdom, he said: "Good trade.”
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