Lonely Condiments

On the meaning of those nearly-finished jars and bottles

Do you ever feel guilty about not finishing a jar or bottle of something in the fridge? For me it’s usually some kind of sauce, paste, marinade, or spread. Stuff that looks interesting and fun to try but which doesn’t have that many obvious uses, or which is good enough to keep around but not quite good enough to really use often.

Worcestershire sauce that I bought for the teaspoon that a meatloaf recipe wanted three years ago? Garlic-infused apple cider vinegar that beckoned me from behind the counter at a Virginia cidery, but which has a fraction of the uses of un-infused apple cider vinegar? Chipotle mayo that tastes good for half the bottle and then gets tiresome, like the inverse of a drink where you reach the bottom all too quickly? Yeah, all of those and more. And my parents’ fridge? I was probably wrapping up high school when that discontinued-and-half-off steak-rub paste first appeared in there.