Word: condimented
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From the hot meze, the Karentika ($3.50), a chickpea custard in a pie crust, is uniformly bland. It comes smothered, however, under a wonderfully piquant harissa, a spicy condiment made by pounding chili peppers in a mortar with salt, olive oil, and spices. Harissa is one of the foundations of all North African cooking, and it’s excellent at Baraka Café. You’d be well-advised to order harissa alone as a meze ($3.50), and forgo the Karentika. The Zaatar Coca ($4.50)—a hand-stretched bread, grilled over a fire, then sprinkled...
...good bite of it hits the roof of one’s mouth. It is the green garnish on top of many Indian and Thai dishes as well as the herb that flavors pico de gallo (chopped tomatoes and onions often served as a Mexican or Tex-Mex condiment). Detractors might call it soapy or grassy, but cilantrophiles are addicted to the lusty spice it adds to just about any recipe, especially salsa...
...Oscar Mayer b) A New York City hot-dog vendor c) The National Condiment Clearinghouse d) A 66-year-old woman making meat loaf...
There are exceptions, of course, to my anti-green condiment rule. Green chile sauce (? la Tabasco) is passable, I suppose, but even though it's often hotter than its red counterpart, it always seems a pale imitation. Green salsa is palatable, but generally brings to mind questions I'd rather not contemplate while eating, like: How did this color come into being? What sort of bizarre food colorings am I consuming? Could I use this salsa in a multimedia performance art project...
...Heinz dynasty obviously know what they're doing; the company's been an American icon since the 1870s. And goodness knows there's no harm in innovation. I just hope the new ketchup doesn't pave the way for a landslide of increasingly dramatic reincarnations in the condiment market - or we could all spend the foreseeable future nibbling on sandwiches spread with magenta peanut butter and platinum-hued...