Another great article from WRAL out of the Raleigh, NC area about how hot sauces and other similar condiments are increasing in popularity at the expense of all the traditional condiments we all grew up using. Check this out:

Ethnic Condiments Displace Old Standbys

By PERVAIZ SHALLWANI
For The Associated Press

For years, ketchup was Natasha White’s condiment of choice, dressing her eggs, potatoes and anything greasy. Then she discovered someting new.

“I never liked Tabasco, but one of my closest friends is Korean and she introduced me to Sriracha sauce,” White, a 26-year-old New York restaurant manager, says of the Asian-inspired hot sauce. One summer, she says, “we put it on everything.”

Yes, it’s now a big condiment universe out there.

Highly specific hot sauces, artisanal soys and complex chutneys get the kind of attention once reserved for the main dish. The big three – ketchup, mayonnaise and mustard – have moved to the back of the nation’s collective refrigerator.

“Every other kind of condiment in the country has become more prevalent,” says John Willoughby, executive editor at Gourmet magazine. “We are looking for stronger tastes and more unique flavors.”

Sales of ketchup, mayonnaise and mustard have stagnated since 2001, actually declining 2 percent between 2004 and 2005, according to a recent market analysis from Packaged Facts, the publishing division of MarketResearch.com.

Click here to read the rest of the source article