Test your ketchup, mustard, and relish knowledge with our Condiment Quiz on Slashfood. Is ketchup considered a vegetable by the USDA and what are anchovies a key ingredient in? Find out here.

• Chef Peter Irving of St. Alphonzo's Kitchen shares his Grandma Sis' Macaroni Salad.
• Barbecuing isn't all about the meats; it's also about the sauces and toppings. The Globe looks into which Boston restaurants serve exceptional sauces.
• Anybody who's eaten Chinese skewered lamb or Korean pulgogi knows that grilling isn't just for barbecues and warm weather, as this look at grilled Asian foods attests.
• A Q&A with David Lebovitz about his new book, "The Sweet Life in Paris."
• Talk about high-tech: Barcelona's Monvinic displays their daunting wine list on PC tablets, and pairs it with truly market-fresh food.

More stories after the jump.

I'll never forget the first roast bird I made, when I had a friend over for dinner. I threw the balsamic roast chicken on the table, added the sides, and she asked me: "There's no sauce?" The question seemed foreign. Strange. Sauce? I grew up in a family where roast/baked/broiled meats were served as-is. Maybe once and a while we'd try out a saucy recipe, but it certainly wasn't a staple. I felt bad, and had nothing I could offer her save bottled bbq sauce or ketchup. At the time, I hadn't yet delved into the world of gravy.

If this has ever happened to you, or you find yourself scouring the Internet trying to find a good or different sauce recipe, check out this collection of sauce recipes at Nikibone.com. This page is chock full of saucy possibilities, but what I like most about the page is the diversity of flavors -- from my beloved wasabi to asiago, champagne to turmeric cream. The list offers flavors you wouldn't necessarily expect, and is a great jumping point for further saucy shenanigans. At the very least, it's a whole slew of tasty options on one small page that saves surfing time!

Looking for quick, easy dips for your veggies, crackers and chips? We've got you covered!

As the ongoing recession/inflation/credit crunch drives the cost of food higher and higher, British chain Sainsbury's has begun working to minimize food wastage. Meanwhile, ever-increasing numbers of consumers are cooking from scratch in an attempt to stretch their food budgets. Clearly, thrift is back!

As you rush around in your search for cheap things to eat, it's worth remembering that, in the kitchen at least, poverty can definitely be the mother of invention. Although cheap gas, greenhouse gardening, and factory farming drove down the price of food for most of the last century, the vast majority of human history has been characterized by the desperate search for sustenance. Keeping that in mind, here's a reminder about a few of the techniques that long-gone chefs once developed to preserve the harvest, get their vitamins, and avoid throwing anything away:

Organ meats: In the days before easy canning and greenhouse gardening, it was incredibly difficult to get the necessary daily allowance of vitamins. Lacking access to fresh fruits and vegetables, medieval farmers turned to organ meats. For example, rich in iron and Vitamin A, the liver was a dietary staple for generations. Similarly, kidneys, sweetbreads, and brains are also great sources of necessary vitamins. Much later, immigrants and the lower classes continued to eat these organs, as they were healthy and relatively inexpensive.

I bet that when you heard about the recent recall of 143 million pounds of beef from Westland/Hallmark you didn't think you'd have to worry about sauces and bouillon cubes.

But that's what's happening. Although much of the frozen beef from the past two years has probably already been eaten or discarded, there might also be some of the meat in canned and packaged foods, including soup, sauces, and bouillon cubes. And some of those foods can sometimes stay on shelves and in the cupboards of consumers for a couple of years.

There have been no illnesses reported and no evidence of actual contamination, but officials don't want to take any chances.

Despite the fact that I grew up in a house in which my mom regularly canned jam, I find that most methods of canning and food storage to be mysterious and slightly intimidating. I have a fear that anything I can will end up infused with botulism and will kill my loved ones and myself. So I don't can (fears don't have to be reasonable). However, I am intrigued by the process and am in awe of people who tackle the task (especially when it includes the scary water bath portion).

It seems like these days it is becoming increasingly popular to can your own food, as it's a good way to keep some of the summer bounty available for winter, especially if you are trying to eat a local diet. The Daily Green has put up a terrific and helpful (and fear calming) post, written by Alisa Smith of the 100 Mile Diet, chock full of tips and information about canning technique. It's enough to make me put aside my fears, buy a case of jars, obtain a flat of tomatoes and start canning.

A few weeks ago, my friends and I got together after work to play board games (yes yes I know - how very, um, exciting), and a friend and I were charged with providing food. We were meeting rather late, so there was no need to go with full dinner fare. I decided on a few Mediterranean dips and a salad because really now, is there anything better than ripping a pita loaf into shreds when you're caught up in the excitement of Jenga?!?! Tzatziki is one of my favorites, and though I do believe it's used more as a sauce or condiment in Greek cuisine, I love scooping it up with pita bread. My Sarah-ized version is written out after the jump:

Chocolate pudding cake is an intensely satisfying, yet simple, dessert. As it bakes, it separates into two layers - a tender chocolate sponge-type cake and a very rich chocolate sauce/ pudding base - so the cake needs no accompaniment unless you want to throw a scoop of vanilla ice cream into the bowl, too.

The second best thing about this cake (the flavor is the first, of course) is that it is incredibly easy to make because it is mixed in the pan that you bake it in. This means that cleanup is minimal and that you can have a delicious, from-scratch dessert on even a very busy weeknight. Not that you shouldn't have it at other times, as well. Any excuse is a good one for chocolate pudding cake.

A recent survey taken of Britons revealed that nearly two thirds of them think that "arrabiata" is a sexually transmitted disease of some kind, which probably makes going out for an Italian restaurant for dinner a rather unique experience. Arrabiata, as fans of Italian food will know, is not a sexually transmitted disease. It is a spicy Italian pasta sauce. Characterized by the use of simple, but fresh, ingredients, the sauce always features tomatoes and hot chili peppers, either fresh of dried. Other common inclusions are garlic, fresh herbs, olive oil and sometimes a little bit of meat or some olives for additional flavor and texture.

In fairness, the survey was about sexual health in general and was released on World Aids Day, this past Friday, so it is possible that some participants were confused by the questioning. It might be a good idea to give the sauce a try just to ensure there won't be any confusion over the name in the future. Read on for a recipe.

How much do you want to know about sauces? If you are looking for one solid tomato-based meat sauce, then Sauces: Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making is probably not the book for you. If, however, you want to know just about everything there is to know about the history, evolution and techniques of sauce making across cultures, then this James Beard Award winning cookbook is the perfect choice. The encyclopedic book is over 600 pages and starts with the basics, including the equipment that is needed for proper sauce making and the fairly standard stocks and things that are the absolute foundation of most cooking. The subjects, in terms of the types of sauces covered, range from meat and fish sauces to salad dressings, vegetable-based and dessert sauces. There is even a who chapter dedicated to the somewhat out of fashion jellied sauces, although their construction is interesting even if you don't plan on serving them.

The wonderful thing about sauces is that they can transform something ordinary into something much more impressive, not to mention into something that is far tastier that it might be plain. This book is an essential reference for a home chef who wants to really take their cooking up to a new level and for a pro who wants to, similarly, learn some more techniques and just improve their basics.

Hollandaise sauce doesn't have to be served over poached eggs and Canadian bacon to make Eggs Benedict. You can ladle it over tomatoes, avocados (now we're talking high fat), low-fat ham, even a simple salad-- but always on a good French or sourdough toast. The toast/sauce texture ratio is key. Also, don't be intimidated by the 'ole double boiler. It's quite easy to get the hang of and if you like chocolate...well, that's another post.

You will need:

• Medium double boiler
• 3 small sauce pans
• whisk
• spatula
• measuring spoons

You know it - it's the Asian hot sauce that comes in a squeeze bottle with the little green tip. In college, maybe you called it "Rooster" for the picture of the rooster on the front, like we did, because we had no idea how to say "sriracha." It's a staple. If i have nothing else in the refrigerator, like Nick, I have a half-full bottle of sriracha (because it never stays full for long).

I don't know what it is about sriracha that makes me want to put it on everything. Everything, I say, from scrambled eggs to mac and cheese to...pizza? Yes, pizza. If you're a sriracha lover, pizza is probably not even an unusual recipient for a lovely back and forth drizzle of the stuff.

But recently, on a night of Indian take-out, I found myself squeezing the stuff on my naan, as if it were completely normal. My dining companion at first gave me a strange look, then grabbed the bottle. "That's brilliant!"

What's the strangest thing you've done with sriracha sauce (in the kitchen, that is)?

Cook's Illustrated has featured their taste test of bottled barbecue sauces on their website as we head into the summer grilling season. They sought out all the "original" flavored BBQ sauces that they could find in their local (Boston, MA) markets and tested them as dipping sauces for chicken tenders. Barbecue sauces are clearly a personal matter, but the tasting panel looked for a balance of sweetness, smokiness and spices that had a good tomato flavor and a relatively thick consistency. While 30 sauces were tested, only 8 made the final cut.

I have a couple issues with the test, the first one being that not all of these sauces are nationally available, though I wouldn't expect them to test every brand in the country. The bigger issue is the fact that the winning sauce had a "thick, coarse texture" and seemed "unprocessed." Even when I make barbecue sauce, I try to have it thick and smooth, not chunky or textured. Also, do most people eat their barbecue sauce purely as a dip? Was this really the best way to compare how the sauces would hold up to, say, grilled foods? It's hard to know, but here are their results:

Tomatillos, despite their name, are not actually tomatoes, though they are members of the tomato family. They are members of the nightshade family and grow all over the western hemisphere, thriving in the southern United States and Mexico. The plant was originally domesticated by the Aztecs, well over 2,000 years ago, and was brought back to Europe by explorers and settlers, where it continues to flourish in Mediterranean climates.

Tomatillos are typically one to two inches in diameter and are green in color. They have a thin, papery shell on them, called the husk, that the fruit actually grows into as it matures. By the time the fruit is ripe, it may have split the husk open, though it is sometimes held in place by a slightly sticky coating. Peel back the husk before using a tomatillo and wash the fruit gently in soap and water to remove any unwanted residue. When selecting a tomatillo in the market, look for one that has a husk in good condition, rather than one that is shriveled. A fruit that is small, but heavy for its size is likely to be sweeter than a larger one.