Claire Dinhut – or Condiment Claire to her one million social media followers – is a multi-lingual, Harvard-educated food and fashion historian who has recently released The Condiment Book: A Brilliantly Flavourful Guide to Food’s Unsung Heroes.
“Ever since I can remember, all of my memories have been based on flavour,” she tells Verve. “It actually wasn’t until I started on social media that I even realized I had a particularly rich love for condiments!”
Can you tell us a little about your culinary journey?
My initial username was clairefromwhere, but when I began getting recognised on the street, people always called me out as the Condiment Girl, or Condiment Claire, so the name just stuck! Looking back, I’ve always carried around flaky salt in my bag and would bring wasabi Dijon mustard to my university dining hall. I just think that I’ve always acknowledged the fact that life is too short to have any boring or bland meal – and condiments are the winning flavour ticket to bringing life into any dish.
Can you expand on why they are so important?
Taste comprises sweet, salty, bitter, acid, and umami flavours. It is also determined by colour, texture, and smell – but more importantly nostalgia and memory. Condiments, in my opinion, create flavour as they are so strongly based on cultural preferences and childhood memories. You can learn a lot about a specific person or culture based on condiment preference!
What’s the strangest combination that you’ve come up with?
I love adding soy sauce to my maple syrup or to my ice cream – the combo of salty, sweet rich umami is lush! Otherwise, I pretty much add Dijon to any dip, and it always works for me – whether it be hummus, mayo, tapenade, ranch, salsa, tzatziki, the list goes on!
A brilliantly flavourful guide to food’s unsung heroes.
What is the most underrated or misunderstood condiment?
Salt! It’s not underrated by any means, but a good salt can really make a dish. There are also so many different kinds around the world made in different manners that taste slightly different based on their mode of production or terroir. Every time I travel to a new place, I always like to purchase some local salt because it can really inform you about that region – and is also a fun souvenir to bring home for friends and family for them to taste your travels.
Which condiment should everyone have in their fridge or pantry?
I really think it’s a personal choice! Anything that reminds you of a nice memory. Personally, I always have Dijon mustard on hand because regardless of where I am in the world, with just one taste, I’m transported back home and feel comforted.
What’s the best way to elevate a basic condiment like ketchup or mayo?
Acid! Whether it’s a bit of lemon juice or vinegar, it should do the trick. I love adding bloody Mary ingredients to my ketchup – there is a Bloody Mary Ketchup recipe in my book – and grainy mustard to my mayo.
What’s a popular international condiment that most people probably haven’t discovered?
I think it’s starting to get more popular but ponzu is one of my all-time favourite condiments! Think of it as a citrusy soy sauce.
What are the most nutritious condiments, or ones best for people watching their calorie intake?
I don’t love to label condiments as ‘healthy’ or not since most people use them due to fond memories like what their mum made them at home, or a fun trip with friend. They’re meant to bring joy! My main tip is to make all of your condiments yourself, that way you can know exactly what’s going into them and use whole foods and ingredients as well as understand the amounts. Everything in moderation.
HOT SAUCE
Extract from The Condiment Book by Claire Dinhut
HISTORY OF HOT SAUCE
The first ever recorded condiment was chilli paste, back in 7,000 BCE in Mesoamerica. (Yes, butter is estimated to have been made before that, but we don’t have concrete evidence.) Since chilli-based condiments have been around for thousands of years, their histories are complex, their uses diverse and their impact on society enormous. Used as a means of torture, medicine, currency and flavour, the chilli plant has radiated heat throughout most of human history, and in so many distinct geographical regions that it has made itself indispensable to almost every food culture. This is despite the fact that it isn’t necessary to the human body for either calories or nutrients, it’s simply enjoyed for its flavour and burn. The chilli isn’t about survival, it’s about our love for it.
As the oldest condiment, chilli paste shows us just how important the sharing of ingredients and ideas around the globe has always been. We’ve been able to exchange chilli-knowledge with different cultures, peoples and lands. Today, the happy results of this are clear in the most beautiful amalgamation of flavours, recipes and uses for chilli in all its forms: cooked, dried, powdered, pickled and raw (particularly tasty in spicy margaritas).
The first hot sauce was most likely a simple paste of mashed chillies and water. Nothing elaborate, just a purely delicious mix. This paste, however, was not solely consumed as a condiment. It was also used as both medicine and torture device.
Aztecs used their native chillies to exert power and dominance over others. Burning them to create a capsaicin smokescreen was among their most powerful weapons. The spicy fire – just like pepper spray – could completely debilitate the enemy by blinding and suffocating them. Ironically, Aztec soldiers commonly had chillies in their pockets to use for food when they weren’t deploying them as part of their personal arsenal. Yes, chillies were used as weapons of war, but they were also employed at home, both as food and punishment… Children who had misbehaved were commonly placed above smoking chillies, or forced to eat them raw.
Extract from The Condiment Book by Claire Dinhut, published by Bloomsbury. RRP $35.
What you need
- 4 chillies
- ½ onion
- 1 garlic clove
- Sea salt
- Filtered water
- Plastic gloves
- Glass jar
- Fermenting weights
- Sterilised bottles
What to do
Put on your gloves and please don’t touch your eyes. Clean your chillies and slice to remove the seeds.
Combine and weigh your prepared chillies, ½ onion and garlic clove, make a note of their combined weight, then place in the jar.
Measure out 2.5% of the weight in salt. Add it to the jar.
Fill the jar 80% of the way up with filtered water, close and shake until the salt has dissolved.
Open up the jar again and place fermenting weights on top to fully submerge your ingredients in their salt brine.
Close the lid, store the jar in a cool dark place and burp daily until you find it has fermented to your liking (there will be loads of little bubbles). Depending on the climate, it should take around 1 week.
