First, my wife grew up with lobster, clams and cod. Seafood. The only "seafood" I saw growing up was catfish, canned salmon and canned tuna. This all lead to the excessive use of tartar sauce. However, tartar sauce is French:
"Tartar sauce, or as the French refer to it, sauce tartare, consists of mayonnaise, mustard, chives, chopped gherkins, and tarragon, according to C. Owen's "Choice Cooking," circa 1889. In French, it is loosely translated as 'rough,' as the Tartars were considered rough, violent, and savage. It is commonly served with fish. Yum yum."
Now my recipe is mayonnaise, mustard, dill pickle relish, lemon juice, capers, minced onion, minced pickled jalapenos. This is great on just about anything! My wife is of French ancestry, now that she knows tartar sauce is a French concoction, she should look on it more favorably. Not!
Second, no one ever feed my wife fried okra growing up. My grandmother would dredge just about any vegetable in cornmeal and fry it in bacon fat: squash, okra, eggplant, green tomatoes, then add some animal teste, lots of ketchup and you got a real meal. When I met my wife 8 years ago, she'd never eaten fried okra. So if fixed some and she didn't like it. Now if I didn't love her, that could have been a deal breaker. Of course the first time she eat lamb fries, she oooo'd over them until I told her what they were. (she'll deny she liked um, but I saw the look on her face, she loved um.)
Third, my wife fails to grasp the virtue of condiments. Granted in the south, ofttimes, food was not as tasty as some Yankees had it. After all, Sherman burned so much of the south there was little left so condiments came into favor. My wife doesn't accept the fact that a spoon is an acceptable utensil for the dispensing of condiments, and that almost any food can benefit from the addition of a condiment.
What is a condiment? well, Mayonnaise, Miracle Whip, mustard-yellow, Dijon, Cajun, hot, course, ketchup, bar b q sauce, ranch dressing, soy sauce, Heinz 57, AI steak sauce, Tabasco and all its variations and brands, (I keep10 or so on hand at all times.), horseradish, wing sauces, Marie's Blue Cheese Dressing, malt vinegar, shrimp cocktail sauce, sport peppers in vinegar, Worcester sauce. If I forgot your favorite, let me know. I have found that the leading national brands make the best condiments. House mayo or ketchup are especially bad.
I am particularly fond of Bar B Q sauce, especially my own, "Hiram Ditty's." It is a variation of one my dad got from Joe Doughty. Joe was an army buddy of dad's from China. Joe was a real Kentucky hillbilly preacher. When dad was back in the service during Korea, he stopped by Joe's for a visit. Dad was in his mid twenties. Joe and his wife fixed dad up on a blind date. She was 15. Gotta love them hill folk. Once on a family visit when I was in grade school, Joe served up raccoon for dinner. Now there's a meat that'll make you appreciate condiments. It was once said you could eat a horse turd with enough ketchup. I have a relative who wouldn't let his kid eat mashed potatoes with ketchup, but he liked it on cottage cheese. Talk about inconsistencies.
Over the years, I have experimented with condiment variations. Cumin ketchup is one of them. It is great with sweet potato fries. Dust the fries with good New Mexico red chili powder. Mix ketchup, ground cumin and balsamic vinegar for a tasty compliment to the sweet and hot of the fries. If you want some of my favorite condiment recipes, let me know.
We are back in the studio and working on a series, "Places of Corrales" to go with my "Faces..." series. Hope to have a show later this year.
By the way, I have 20 Ukrainian hits this week. Either fans or identity thieves.
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