subject: Barbecue Sauce, The Condiment For Regular People [print this page] Barbecue sauce is the condiment of America, and the condiment of the regular people in this country. It is not something you will see served at the academy awards dinner, the presentation of the Nobel Prizes, or at a posh French restaurant in your city's uptown district. Caviar and barbecued ribs usually are not together in any way, shape, or form, and you will probably never see anyone drinking Dom Perignon while chomping down on their baby back ribs. But, for those of us not considered aristocratic elites, we use the grilling sauce often and find it delightful!
From middle management types to blue collar construction types, barbecue sauce is something we love to use in our cooking. For most of us there is no need for fancy mustards that come from a region in France that costs more than a weeks worth of wages. Instead, a simple bottle of a good grilling sauce will satisfy most of your needs. Certainly some ketchup or gold old-fashioned yellow mustard might help out, but fancy mint sauces or exotic animal gravies can remain with the rich folks.
Often you will find comfort in your barbecue sauce. Think about the time you went to that luncheon for work. You remember, the one where you felt like you didn't want to go, but felt obligated to be there. The feeling of discomfort of having bland tasting but fancy looking stuff in small portions just made you want to scream. You probably hit the rib shack, you know, the really good one that has been downtown for thirty years or more and in a little rough section of town, and you brought home the absolute best tasting ribs you ever ate. That should be a message to you. The message is, who wants to be rich if they have to eat like that?
Ultimately, you only have to stay grounded in the real world to stay away from eating snails, fish eggs, and spending thousands on a bottle of wine. Eat the ribs smothered in that savory barbecue sauce, drink a few beers, and enjoy those around you. You will find that having excessive money is of little use when you have to eat with a fork all the time and never can get your hands dirty. Champagne with your food is rarely as satisfying as a cold beer, and tiny portions of things that look like art is never as good as a greasy burger. After all, isn't that what life is really about, good food, good friends, and happiness?
