“My love for A-1 sauce runs deep. That was a childhood fixture at our meat & potatoes dinner table.”
Haha, my husband still has a family feud going on about steak sauce. Apparently, when his family of eight kids dined together, only his father got to use steak sauce. Then, when a few of them got older and left the house, the younger kids (my husband was one of the youngest four) were allowed to have it. The oldest brother is still mad about that.
Balsamic vinegar was my earlier post. Definitely condiment, mostly for dipping warm bread or sprinkling on top of a tossed salad (by itself, no oil) or soup (not cooked in the soup). Our son drizzles it on steak. I can’t think of anything I make where the vinegar is cooked or baked in. I always use it as some sort of dip or topping after the dish is prepared.
Butter as a spread is a condiment, but cooked or baked in a recipe would be an ingredient.
Surprised by all the love for mayo/mustard/ketchup. We don’t use any of these except at Thanksgiving when DH buys the smallest jar of mayo for Waldorf salad that only he and my mom will eat.
Growing up, A-1 was a staple at home when we had steak. It wasn’t until I was an adult and had a garlic/brown sugar/balsamic vinegar/oil glaze on a steak that I put A-1 behind me. I love balsamic vinegar on everything.
Does anyone besides me eat tuna salad? Egg salad? Chicken salad? Macaroni salad? Potato salad? Cole slaw? I guess mayo is more an ingredient in these than a condiment but I could not do without it.
Also need mayo to spread on the bread for a turkey or roast beef sandwich, or a tomato on white bread sandwich in the summer when tomatoes are in season (also BLTs).
Hellmann’s mayo is the only brand I buy and I don’t think I realized how much I depend on it until now.
I eat tuna salad from time to time, but mostly I eat leftovers for lunch. I like egg salad, but since I eat eggs for breakfast almost every day I don’t ever eat them for lunch too. Don’t like pasta mayo salads and eat potato salad only at BBQ restaurants made by other people or at the neighborhood Oktoberfest. I do like mayo (or even better Russian dressing) on a roast beef sandwich. I have one three or four times a year.
@LuckyCharms913 - I agree with you wholeheartedly, except for that part about Hellmann’s. Dukes >> Hellman’s.
To each his own, I guess!
Our tuna salad recipe is made with yogurt, curry, and a few other ingredients, no mayo. I think if someone made a mayo out of olive oil then spiced it up I would like it better. We almost never use corn oil either.
Apparently in Guinea they put mayo on pasta. Gross.
A-1
Mayo if it means I can’t use it in cooking too.
My spouse puts harissa on just about everything (specifically the Tunisian harissa - we buy all we can when we find it).
" I think if someone made a mayo out of olive oil"
Hellman’s does, not spiced up but you could easily do that yourself - hot sauce, chutney, spices, etc. Or you could make your own mayo. It’s pretty easy.
https://www.hellmanns.com/us/en/products/mayonnaise/mayonnaise-dressing-with-olive-oil.html
Best Foods has an olive oil mayonnaise as well—I believe it has a green cap rather than the traditional blue. Have used it—tastes the same to me asthe regular, but I’ve gotten much less discerming since losing my sense of smell decades ago.
Best Foods = Hellman’s. It’s just west coast vs. east coast.
Chosen Foods Avocado oil mayo is pretty good. Just don’t buy it from Amazon. There are plenty of reviews that said it arrived spoiled or past expiry date from Amazon.
So speaking of condiments, I recently bought large squeeze bottles (like they use at restaurants or Subway, etc.) for our frequently used condiments. It sparks joy every time I open the fridge door now. I have 8 that are frequently used: ketchup, mustard, mayo, bbq sauce, honey mustard, italian, ranch and french. All are used for sandwiches, baked potatoes, salads, and general cooking. I found them at Gordon Food Service.
Wow! We are practically condiment-free in our household which I hadn’t realized before this thread.
Is this why my kids always liked the other moms’ cooking better? :))
If I’m honest, I often like condiments more than the food I’m putting them on, and I’ve yet to encounter a condiment I don’t like. Probably my favorite food group.
Lol. I hear you. Try to eat unsalted, unflavored steak or chicken, or even worse, tofu. 
A proper steak cooked right, all I need is salt & pepper, but pretty much everything else, yeah.
Alas, proper steak is out of reach for the majority of us, most of the time. For the other 99% of steaks, condiments to the rescue! 
Heh for sure!