Dips Drips and Drops – Condiments

May 20, 2024 by Chef David

By Chef David

No home is complete without an assortment of condiments, such as mustard, mayo, ketchup, BBQ sauce, and horseradish. Condiments enhance the culinary experience by adding smell, color, and even texture making dishes much more attractive while catering to the taste of each diner.

We tasted some less traditional kosher brands, Woeber’s Mustard, Bookbinder’s, Silver Spring Foods, Ketchner’s, and Toom Garlic dips. These brands are all certified kosher by the OU, each with a distinct formulation and flavor.

Mustard

The first condiment, salt, was used as a preservative and flavor enhancer. Vinegar can also be traced to ancient times, its name coming from the French vin aiger meaning sour wine.

Mustard origins date to mustum ardens, an ancient Roman combination of grape must and ground mustard seeds.

A Short Guide to Common Mustards:

• Brown –  is a rustic mustard, named for its high count of brown mustard seeds.
• Spicy Brown –  is similar to brown mustard but it includes the bran of the seeds which creates a slightly gritty texture.
• Deli –  consists of partially ground brown mustard seeds and warming spices. 
• Dijon – originated in Dijon, a town in Burgundy, France. Their mustard was originally made with vinegar until Jean Nagano substituted the juice from unripe grapes. Dijon mustard tends to be darker in color with a complex sharper flavor.
• Yellow – the mustard most commonly used in the United States and Canada. (In the rest of the world, it is often called American mustard). It is named for its yellow color, and is made from powdered yellow mustard seeds, a spice blend, and vinegar (or even water), and has a milder taste than brown mustard.

Woeber’s

Woeber’s began in 1905 when Carl Woeber emigrated from Germany to Springfield, Ohio. He brought expertise in mustard making, which he made in his kitchen and sold door-to-door. In 1925 Woeber’s added ground horseradish products.  In 1945 a drawing of Ray Woeber (Carl’s son and a World War II veteran) became their trademark picture of Woeber’s Mustard Man.

Woeber’s is a fourth-generation family business. They are known for producing mustard, vinegar, and horseradish products for several lines – Woeber’s, Supreme (and Supreme Dips), Mayo Gourmet, Sandwich Pals (which we sampled and enjoyed), and Crowning Touch. [Note: not all Woeber’s products are kosher]

Yellow mustard is Woeber’s most popular product, but they offer a wide selection. Their line-up includes Dijon, whole grain, brown, spicy brown, jalapeno, honey, and deli mustard and extends to less traditional tastes like Sriracha, Champagne Dill, and cranberry honey mustard. They also produce horseradish, with some interesting flavors including southwest horseradish with chili peppers, cranberry horseradish (one of our personal favorites), and of course horseradish mustard.

Woeber can be found in stores or purchased online.

Horseradish

You might not know it, but horseradish is a member of the mustard family. It is known for its thick, fleshy white roots, a prominent item at the Pesach seder table or on gefilte fish. Its bite and aroma are heightened when the root is grated or ground, a process that releases isothiocyanates.

The Egyptians have used horseradish as far back as 1500 BCE. Early Greeks used it as a rub for lower back pain and an aphrodisiac. 

Huntsinger Farms / Silver Spring Foods

Huntsinger Farms, Inc. a family-run business for over 90 years.is the parent company of a horseradish empire that includes Silver Spring Foods (a refrigerated product line), Bookbinder’s (purchased in 1999) producing shelf-stable condiments, and Kelchners (purchased in 2009). 

Products by Brand

Silver Spring Foods

Founded in 1929, by Ellis Huntsinger, who prepared and bottled horseradish by hand in an old milk shed behind his house and sold it during the cold winter months in Wisconsin.

Silver Springs Foods has lines devoted to horseradish, specialty mustards, specialty mustards as well as kosher for Passover horseradish. 

They elevated horseradish with Zing Masters™ and developed the Zing Factor™ Index to identify the different levels of Zing in each Silver Spring Foods product. The index ranges from Z1 (the least amount of heat) to Z5 (the most amount of heat).

Some of their unique offerings include Beer ‘n Brat Mustard – with a tangy taste and an extra dose of heat (rated a 4), dill mustard to bring out the flavors of Scandinavia (rated a 2), or stone ground mustard.  

One of our favorites was the Cranberry Horseradish, rated a 1. It had a sweet initial taste, with a surprise, subtle kick. Great on deli and gefilite fish. 

Silver Field Foods is available at stores and online

Bookbinder’s

In the late 1800’s Samuel Bookbinder opened a Philadelphia restaurant, located dockside on the Delaware River. The restaurant was known for its seafood and condiments, specifically cocktail and tartar sauces, mustards, and horseradish. Some of their original offerings include Applewood Smoke Flavored Horseradish Sauce (we enjoyed this exotic flavor), Everything Bagel mustard, and Wahabi Sauce. 

Bookbinder’s can be purchased online and in stores.

Keichner’s

Kelchner’s is known for their signature sauces and has been in business since 1938. They produce horseradish, cocktail sauce, hot mustard with horseradish, spicy siracha sauce, tartar sauce, and horseradish with beets. In 2018, they added a new line of marinades including smoky maple chipotle, honey ginger, lemon dill, pineapple teriyaki, horseradish remoulade, and shrimp scampi (marked OU-D).

Ketchner’s can be purchased online or in stores.

Toom Garlic Dip

Toom offers a novel condiment, a tangy pareve meal accelerant which is a bit non-traditional adding a garlicky punch. Toom can be found in the refrigerated section of your supermarket. They recommend them for chips and dip (we thought it works best mild flavored pita chip), and we enjoyed adding it as a burger topper or on schnitzel for a buffalo chicken sandwich for a savory flavor.

Created by CEO, Matt Joyce, who began working on Toom the summer after college graduation, perfecting a family recipe.  They are a Minnesota-based, family-run brand dedicated to each other, and sharing the “Ohmigoodness.”

Toom comes in a handful of flavors, Original, Buffalo with cayenne and garlic, Pesto, and Chipotle Honey.

Our favorite was the Buffalo, which transforms plain schnitzel into buffalo chicken.  We recommend adding the Original Toom to your Shabbos table as a humus substitute or as a dip.

Toom’s ingredients are simple –  fresh garlic, oil, lemon juice, and sea salt.  Toom does not use any artificial preservatives.

Toom can be purchased in select stores.

Go Wild!

With so many delightful pareve condiments to experiment with, it is time to consider moving beyond ketchup and BBQ sauce. Buy some creative flavor blends, then let everyone explore for themselves.