Your Top Regional/International Brands

[nakji]

When Jay Rayner writes of his love of Kressi vinegar, and trip to Switzerland to find it in "The Man Who Ate the World", I understand completely what he means.

What are your top cupboard or fridge staples? I've developed a motley collection of brand allegiances over my travels, and there are just some international ingredients I either can't do without; or miss terribly and purchase at any opportunity when I find them.

Mine are:

Maille Dijon mustard - available everywhere; infinitely versatile. I like it for vinaigrettes and mustard sauce for pan-fried chicken. Can't do without it.

Trung Nguyen coffee - I always pick up a bag whenever I see it; I can never get enough of the chocolate-coffee taste.

Crosse & Blackwell Branston Pickle - I'm never without sandwich options when this is around; it's also perfectly acceptable to eat it with a spoon, no? I buy it whenever I find it.

Sun Chang Gochujang - goes on fried rice; into ddalk galbi; bibimbap...tons of Korean dishes. My fridge always has a tub.

Kikkoman soy sauce - reliable and readily available; but I miss the 1l bottles I used to be able to buy in Japan.

[ChickenStu]

Huy Fong sriracha.

French sea salt.

Laurent du Clos mustards...Like them better than maille.

Check costco for big bottles of soy sauce. I think i got a 2L ish bottle for about 6$

[nakji]

Laurent du Clos mustards...Like them better than maille.

I've never seen those for sale. Why do you think they're better? Not as sharp? Sharper?

Check costco for big bottles of soy sauce. I think i got a 2L ish bottle for about 6$

Sadly, no Costco where I am. Large bottles of soy sauce are readily available where I live, but not the various grades of Kikkoman I got used to in Japan.

[ChickenStu]

I think I just bought the mustard on a week that I really started to like french mustards. I should do a side by side with maille. I usually get it at whole foods.

[onrushpam]

Lyle's Golden Syrup (first learned of it in the UK and have found a source for it here)

Hatch Chile products (enchilada sauce, canned chiles, etc)

Crystal Sauce (can't be without it in our house!)

Zatarain's Creole Mustard (harder and harder to find)

And, my lost/gone Seminole Cocktail Sauce... I think it's gone forever... haven't seen it in ages

[nickrey]

I've stopped using Kikkoman soy and now use Yamasa brand (which according to the label has been around since 1645).

For fish sauce I use a Vietnamese one called Three Crabs. Interestingly the producer (Viet Huong Fish Sauce Company) was started in San Francisco by a Vietnamese American in the 1980s.

My other go to international brands are:

Capriete Sherry Vinegar by Bodegas Jose Paez Lobato. I've done comparison tasting and this is a very good lower-priced vinegar.

Bodegas Jose Paez Lobato Gran Capirete 50 year old Jerez vinegar for a more upper end sherry vinegar. Try a few drops on a matured Spanish Manchego cheese for a real taste sensation.

Balsamic Vinegar of Modena produced by Fattorie Giacobazzi. It is barrel fermented and not coloured (and taste tainted) by caramel as so many of the inferior products are.

[Pierogi]

Lyle's Golden Syrup (first learned of it in the UK and have found a source for it here)

Hatch Chile products (enchilada sauce, canned chiles, etc)

Crystal Sauce (can't be without it in our house!)

Zatarain's Creole Mustard (harder and harder to find)

And, my lost/gone Seminole Cocktail Sauce... I think it's gone forever... haven't seen it in ages

Yes and YES on the Crystal hot sauce and the Zatarain's Mustard (pretty available in my neck of SoCal, although I always pick up a jar when I see it, because the jars are so small....)

The Crystal sauce is good for an all purpose hot sauce, and for specifically Southern dishes. For Mexican food, the hot sauce of choice for me is Tapatio, still family-made locally in SoCal. Cholua is also good, but I prefer Tapatio.

Orange marmalade is only King Kelly.

Chili sauce in this house is a brand called "Homemade Chili Sauce". Seriously, that's the brand name. Comes in a smallish, rounded jar. Good stuff....

And must'nt forget Best Foods (aka Hellmans') mayo. The only mayo worth buying.

Soy sauce is the Trader Joe's private labeled house brand. Best I've tasted, even better than the Kimlan I thought was my previous favorite.

[heidih]

If I had to do a "top 5" I would say:

- 3 Crabs fish sauce (yes I know it has additives but it works for me)

- Kikkoman All Purpose seasoning (umakushi shoyu) - The current bottle is from the Korean market which is much closer to me. I do not remember high fructose corn syrup on the ingredient list before and the label is slightly different so I may have to venture to a Japanese or the big Chinese market to compare labels. Tastes right though.

- Grey Poupon Dijon mustard- goofy commercials aside, I buy this in 1.5 lb. jars and go through several a year. I have tried all kinds of mustards and this one works for my cooking the best. I do venture off into making my own at times, but I get nervous when the jar of this one only has scrapings left. Of course I use the jar to make dressing so as to salvage all the bits.

- Knorr chicken bouillon powder- I know, I know, but I just like knowing it is in the cupboard. I think they have different formulas for different countries. I like the "Caldo con sabor de Pollo" which is targeted at Latin America.

- Wild Mountain honey by Robert Cole of Oakland, California ("since 1925"). We had hives when I was a child and depending on the season we had magnificent and different flavor profiles, but this is all around most evocative of our best. When I feel blue I open the jar and take a deep sniff- it puts a smile on my face.

[nakji]

- Knorr chicken bouillon powder- I know, I know, but I just like knowing it is in the cupboard. I think they have different formulas for different countries. I like the "Caldo con sabor de Pollo" which is targeted at Latin America.

I always have a can in the cupboard as well - you never know when you're going to need a little stock! I use it to finish vegetables in the wok.

[LindaK]

Dijon mustard. My brand allegiance is in flux these days. I like it strong, and believe it or not, my current staple is from Trader Joe’s but, according to the label, is imported from France.

French green lentils. When in the States, whatever brand I can find. When in France, I fill my suitase with the cute little bags from the Monoprix.

Mas Portell bittersweet merlot vinegar, from Spain. Lots of flavor but with a light body, so you can go equally light on olive oil.

Aleppo pepper flakes, from Turkey. These are to red pepper flakes what Sriracha is to hot sauce—completely addictive. I buy them from Penzeys—by the 4 oz bag.

Italian canned tuna, if I can find it. Flott brand is most common around here.

Sriracha, the one with the rooster.

La Chinata Spanish smoked paprika, bittersweet.

Kate’s unsalted butter, made in Maine.

Old Bay seasoning, from Maryland.

[heidih]

Aleppo pepper flakes, from Turkey. These are to red pepper flakes what Sriracha is to hot sauce—completely addictive. I buy them from Penzeys—by the 4 oz bag.

OK- I am a red pepper flake addict and there is a Penzeys about 10 minutes away so I will be headed over there tomorrow.

[Mr Pie]

my 'accept no substitutes' section:-

Coca-cola

Kellogs cornflakes

Colman's mustard (I think this is intenational)

HP sauce

Heinz tomato ketchup

The papads that have a photo of a boy eating them on the front, but I don't know what the brand is called.

my 'tried and trusted brand, but there may be better out there' section:-

Kikkomans soy sauce

Squid brand Thai fish sauce

Encona West Indian hot sauce