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WHAT do we mean by condiments? Well, a dictionary will tell you you something about flavor enhancing or imparting flavor, and that the Latin root of the word meant season or seasoning. Other dictionaries will tell you about piquancy, sauces, vinegars, spices, relishes, and pickles which complement or impart other flavors. Then there are those things which are called trucklements or tracklements. I am pretty sure that this describes something such as a culinary jelly (e.g., cranberry), served with meat. Nowadays the term includes mustards, chutneys and sauces, such as horseradish or caper sauce.

So if we follow that thread, we have a side of smoked salmon and we serve it with say, finely sliced Spanish onion, tiny Sicilian capers, horseradish relish, wholemeal sourdough bread and soft, made-in-Normandy, Neufchâtel cheese. Which of those makes the list as condiments?

If you serve roast beef and deploy creamed horseradish, hot English mustard and gravy made as a reduction of the roasting juices and some good red wine, are all these accompaniments condiments? Is mint sauce the traditional condiment for roast lamb? Or apple sauce the traditional condiment for roast pork?

Do we think of grated Romano or Parmesan cheese as suitable condiments for pasta dressed in tomato sauce?

If you have a roast duck served with orange or orange-cranberry sauce, bread sauce and game chips, are all these complementary condiments?

What about what we may loosely describe as a chicken curry, served with lime pickles, mango chutney, cucumber-mint raita, poppadoms, and saffron rice? Do we exclude the saffron rice but include the poppadoms?

I don’t think it matters much. We know what we mean and we don’t say pass the condiments anyway. We just ask our dining companions to pass the salt and pepper, or the sauce or ketchup or catsup, or grated cheese.

But never forget that carefully selected complementary condiments bring out compliments for the cook! In that context, you may care to visit our online store to browse a selection of winning condiments.