MY LIFE IN THE MOUNTAIN WEST: October 2023

Sunday, October 29, 2023

The Condiment Haul

Let's get the bad stuff out of the way first.

This is one of the three worst barbecue sauces I have ever tried. It tasted like shitty pizza sauce.

(I made a BBQ chicken pizza to see if maybe it would taste okay in this format; it did not and I poured out the whole bottle.)

MNMLST ketchup tasted like old tomato paste.

I used to go to ALDI in Arcadia every once in a while - though only because it was cheap, not because it was good. I had not been to one in 5 years and decided to visit agin. I bought this dressing, took one spoonful to see how it was, and poured out the rest.

Now the stuff I bought because I have enjoyed it in the past but cannot find it in New Mexico:

Now the stuff I've bought for the first time and enjoyed:

Technically I enjoyed this but it was not nearly as good as I had hoped it would be and I do not plan to buy it again.

Ditto. The first ingredient is Worcestershire sauce. Now, I love Worcestershire, and I have made more sauces than any non-chef you have ever met, but it never once occurred to me to make Worcestershire the #1 ingredient.

This is the complete opposite. I wish they used MORE Worcestershire sauce in this. It tastes only of Heinz 57.

This is okay, not as good as I was hoping. Plus I find the name offensive. I wish they would change it to Wolf Red. (That's an inside joke for Bryce and Amy.)

This is fantastic. I wish I had bought more than one bottle. Bock & Brown sugar as a marinade is genius. I guess I could make my own.

This is fantastic. H-E-B is the grocery store chain that owns Central Market, and I like it just as much. I wish there were one in New Mexico, but the closest location is the one I visited, in Lubbock, Texas.

Fantastic jam. I used it all in three days.

One of the best steak sauces I have ever had and probably the only thing here that I am legitimately considering buying online, even though it will undoubtedly cost a lot to ship.

The above two are both great barbecue sauces. One tangy; the other very sweet.

And now the things I have not yet tried:

I bought this just because the meal at Hutchins was so great and I wanted to take home a souvenir from the restaurant. (I considered a t-shirt but I literally have 100 t shirts. I don't need another.)

Now for the stuff I have not yet tried: