Condiment of the Week: Wasabi Mustard

Remember the days when there were only a few types of mustard? You had your regular yellow mustard, the deli mustard, dijon, and honey, but now you can pretty much find a mustard made with almost anything one can imagine. Peach and jalapeno mustard anyone? With that being said, some of these newer mustard inventions are actually quite good and can add an unusual and satisfying flavor to sandwiches and sauces. One of my favorites is Stonewall Kitchen's Wasabi Mustard. I already love wasabi for the strong distinct heat and flavor it lends sushi and other Japanese dishes, but mixed with a light dijon style mustard it makes for an odd, but delicious pairing. The wasabi is a bit muted in the mustard, lending more flavor than nostril clearing adrenaline rush heat. Perhaps it is also the clear addition of sugar, or apparently "pure cane sugar" in the ingredient list. Either way, I love to use this mustard for as many unusual things as possible. It can be used just as a dipping sauce for fresh vegetables like carrots and celery, added as a chicken marinade, or with fish and herbs. Limiting it to just sandwiches is a mistake, and I think that is part of the problem with gourmet mustard. One needs to get a bit creative to really use the full potential of a mustard made with wasabi and treat it less like a condiment and more like a sauce or dip.

Favorite Use: Grilled chicken marinade
Strangest Use: Sauce over grilled carrots

Gourmet Mustard

Condiment of the Week: Goya Salsita Chipotle Chile

While Goya products tend to get overlooked at supermarkets, they actually provide some of the better Latin and Spanish pre-made and canned goods on the market. One of my favorites are their line of salsita's that include chipotle, ancho, jalepeno and habanero While all of them are quite good, my favorite is the chipotle which has that perfect combo of spicy and smokey that many hot sauces try to create, but rarely succeed. Tabasco, Jim Beam, and others that I've tried have either failed to get the right consistency, focused too much on the smoke, or too much on the heat, forgetting that they need to all work as one. The Goya Chipotle pours out of the bottle well, but does not come off as watered down, and even seemingly has texture to it from the peppers. When you first taste the hot sauce the smoke engulfs your mouth and can overpower weaker flavors very easily. Ideally, because of this type of taste, the sauce should be used sparingly as an accent to foods and dishes that pair well with smokey flavor. Add to much of this sauce, and whatever your eating will taste like it was in the smoke house a day too long. After the smoke flavor goes away the heat suddenly appears in the back of your throat and will catch you completely by surprise. It's very easy to start eating something with the Goya Chipotle and think it isn't hot at all, and then suddenly the heat will catch up with you and make you turn bright red. While not as spicy as habanero or scotch bonnet, the sauce is still jalapeno based, and will get you if you don't watch out. Maybe it's the wooden top, but there is something that I love about the flavors that make up the Goya sauces. It may still be a huge corporate brand, but it's about as authentic of a taste as your going to find in your supermarket "spanish" section.

Favorite Use: A few drops over rice and beans or on top of a taco
Most Unusual Use: Mix with honey mustard for a spicy, sweet and smoky dipping sauce