Sauce

This recipe originally accompanied Vidalia Onion Fritters with Tamarind Dipping Sauce. Tamarind water gives this very nicely balanced tart-yet-sweet dipping sauce its lovely deep orange color and unusual flavor. The sauce is delicious with Vidalia Onion Fritters and other fried foods.

The combination of three varieties of apples gives this applesauce sweet-tart flavor and great texture.

A sweet-savory sauce that's great with the grilled meats. Adjust the heat by adding hot pepper sauce to taste.

This deeply flavored sauce is part barbecue sauce, part red-wine reduction.

Use any leftovers as a spread for scones.

This versatile condiment is also great with bread or crudités.

This tahini-based sauce serves as the foundation for mezes like hummus and baba ghanouj throughout much of the Mediterranean, but it's also a wonderful sauce in its own right, showing its versatility by adding a nutty, lemony hit to the kùfte or to vegetables or fish.

Editor's note: To read more about Raichlen and barbecue, go to our feature The Best Barbecue in the U.S.A. ** Peppery and piquant, this vinegar sauce is the preferred condiment of eastern North Carolina. In the western part of the state, the sauce becomes more tomatoey, while in southern parts of the Carolinas, mustard sauce reigns supreme. **

Serve this yogurt-based Greek staple as a first-course accompaniment to pitas and other breads, or as a light but creamy sauce drizzled over spiced roasted meats.

You'll be amazed that anything this simple could taste so good, not to mention that all this garlic—yes, two heads, not two cloves—can produce such a seasoned, mellow taste.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are adapted from Elizabeth Karmel's Web site, girlsatthegrill.com. The addition of ketchup in this slightly sweeter vinegar sauce distinguishes it from simpler Eastern North Carolina vinegar sauce. I prefer this sauce not only because I grew up with it—I like the added flavor and the pink color that the ketchup gives the sauce. To turn this sauce into an Eastern sauce, add 1 cup of water and eliminate the brown sugar and ketchup. This sauce is used to make North Carolina Style Pulled Pork and North Carolina Coleslaw . You will need to double this recipe to sauce both the meat and the slaw.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from The Barbecue! Bible 10th Anniversary Edition, by Steven Raichlen. To read more about Raichlen and barbecue, go to our feature The Best Barbecue in the U.S.A. A good barbecue sauce is a study in contrasts: sweet versus sour, fruity versus smoky, spicy versus mellow. Here's a great all-purpose sauce that's loaded with flavor but not too sweet. It goes well with all manner of poultry, pork, or beef. The minced vegetables give you a coarse-textured sauce, which I happen to like. If you prefer a smooth sauce, puree it in a blender.

Can't take the heat? Then eat some raita. In India, the condiment is used to cool the palate.

Salad dressing has derailed at least seven of my diets. Fat-free varieties are either bitter or icky sweet, so I end up skipping salads altogether. The spa version uses thickened nonfat vegetable stock, which uncannily resembles emulsified olive oil, as a base. Soon you'll be buying greens in bulk and jeans in a smaller size.

Crispy, golden slices of garlic add a nice crunch and nutty flavor (picky eaters can have their pasta without or easily eat around it).

Tricked out with shoestring fries, this is a time-honored rendition of steak frites—meat and potatoes à la française. A rich sauce on the side enhances the already flavorful well-marbled meat.

Rich, aromatic rouille is a classic lily-gilding for French fish soups; this one has an extra something special: saffron. Even if you love saffron, though, don't be tempted to add any extra threads. This is just the right amount to really flatter, not dominate, the soup.