Tuesday, May 16, 2006

I Heart Wasabi Mayo


I'm a big time condiment fan. Even as a kid when I was officially named The World's Pickiest Eater I still loved ketchup, mustard, and most of all, mayo. These days I may go back and forth on my second fave, but my number one is, was and will always be mayo. (Even I have my limits and will not attempt the world record of four 32-ounce bowls in eight minutes according to the IFOCE.)

This love of condiments was easy when I was a kid. You had your basic big three -- mayo, ketchup and mustard -- to choose from with little variation. Okay, so you had yellow mustard (preferred on pretzels and hot dogs) and spicy brown mustard (the mustard of choice for sandwiches), but that seemed to be it for a long, long time.

Then things started opening up. All of a sudden there was dijon mustard and honey mustard. Even ketchup companies started adding spices and flavors to their mixes. Roy Rogers ruined me for all future hamburgers by opening my world up to the existence of horseradish AND bbq sauces.

Yet through it all, good old mayo stood by me. Never wavering. Standing its ground... well, standing its ground as long as it was refrigerated.

In recent years I've switched to a Lite Mayo just to help keep the extra pounds from getting too prominent. But now, there's a new love in my (culinary) life.

Needing a wasabi mayo for a tuna steak recipe -- and too lazy to track down a good recipe -- I scanned the shelves at Wegman's and found Spectrum Organics Wasabi Mayonnaise.

In the past I've always been disappointed in flavored sandwich spreads since most companies seem to undercut flavor in an attempt to achieve broader appeal. Me, I like bold flavors. Despite a name that sounds like it's straight out of one of those orientation films they keep finding on LOST, I decided to give good ol' Spectrum Organics a try.

The verdict? I'm in love. A bold, creamy, full-flavored spread, this Wasabi Mayonnaise delivers the goods without going too far one way or the other. Awesome atop a grilled tuna steak, it's equally as good -- maybe even better -- mixed with a can of albacore tuna and served on toasted bread.

My mouth is literally watering thinking about this afternoon's lunch!

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