Condiment

I think Worcestershire has incredible potential. The regular store-bought sauce has great flavor but is too thin and a little light on the palate. So what I’ve done is fortify the bottled stuff with more of the ingredients typically found in Worcestershire sauce to create a thicker, richer version.

This chunky, vibrantly colored vinaigrette is absolutely addictive! Each ingredient is bold on its own and together they form a tasty, slightly salty, slightly sweet, slightly acidic, rich flavor. It’s outstanding on all types of fish, particularly Grilled Tuna Steak with Spring Onions (page 131).

Like pesto, this no-cook green sauce can be used in many ways. It’s awesome spooned over grilled vegetables, fish, chicken, pork, and lamb or served as a dip for crudités or focaccia. The parsley sauce can be made ahead of time and refrigerated, but is best when blended at the last minute to keep the deep green color. It’s featured throughout the book in recipes from parsley croutons (page 175) and Roasted Cauliflower (page 186) to Creamy Parsley Dressing (page 87).

Pickled vegetables are great to have in the fridge as a go-with-everything condiment; try them on sandwiches or burgers, in place of olives at a cocktail party, or alongside Falafel with Tahini Sauce (page 29). A quick brine made of rice vinegar, sugar, and water gives your favorite crisp vegetables a sweet-and-sour flavor. They’ll keep for up to three months in an airtight container in the refrigerator, and the recipe can easily be doubled if you want to prepare a bigger batch. The vegetables in the recipe below are my favorites, but feel free to mix it up by adding others such as raw baby corn, zucchini, or beets. One batch of brine will be enough for any one of the suggested vegetables, below.

A staple on the Korean table, kimchi is a pickled cabbage (and sometimes radish) side dish that is pungent and spicy. Traditionally, it has lots of spices and takes months to make, carefully buried in the ground to ferment. Forget all about that . . . this is a kinder, gentler version. The first thing you need to do is buy a bottle of Momoya Kimchi Base, a sweet and slightly spicy red sauce that has everything in it already. Look for it at your local Asian grocer or online. Once you have it in the fridge, you’re set for a while—a little goes a long way. This recipe couldn’t be easier to make but the kimchi needs at least a couple of hours to do its work, so plan ahead. I use the kimchi in practically everything from a topping on burgers to a filling for quesadillas (page 23). Spoon the kimchi into butter lettuce leaves and sprinkle with chopped peanuts for an incredibly tasty and healthy snack.

Similar to ratatouille, this Sicilian classic is a vibrant stew made with eggplant, roasted bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, raisins, and olives mixed together with lots of good olive oil. It’s one of those dishes where the final product exceeds the sum of its parts. Fruity olive oil is essential to the success of this dish; it is the facilitator of all the ingredients. Caponata can be served warm or at room temperature, as an antipasto, a side dish, or a topping for Crostini (page 27) or pizza.

Crème fraîche is just homemade sour cream and is simple to make.

These preserves will keep for a few weeks in the refrigerator and are good on a grilled cheese sandwich or as a condiment for creamy pureed white beans.

I love making sauerkraut and wait to do it on a day when I am alone in the kitchen and it’s hopefully raining.

Both the vinegar and peppers (together or separately) can serve as a condiment for soups like the Red Lentil (page 191), for braised greens and stewed meat, or as a bright winter substitute for dried chiles.