A good sauce or marinade makes it so easy to get dinner on the table. We like these three international flavors.
C’est Djen’s Marinade and Sauce
Twenty-three years ago Djeneba Fields of C'est Djen's came to the States from Côte d'Ivoire. During the market season, she sells her vegetable-based marinade along with grilled chicken wings and salmon at Alpharetta Farmers Market. We really like the marinade, bright green from parsley and savory with onion and garlic, mustard and lemon juice. She says reminds of the way her mother cooked at home in West Africa. Use it to season chicken (leaving chicken in the marinade for one to three hours) or brush it over seafood and wait 15 minutes or so before cooking. It's made from all fresh ingredients so you need to store it in your refrigerator until you use up the pint jar. If you are like us, that won't take long.
$9 per pint jar. Available at the Saturday morning Alpharetta Farmers Market and can be ordered by emailing djentolo@yahoo.com.
Amazing Dumpling Sauce and Red Chili Oil from Gu’s Kitchen
The Gu family is especially beloved for the dumplings they've been serving Atlantans for many years. The dumplings are indeed delicious but is it the sauces that put their dumplings over the top? Recently we've been enjoying their Amazing Sauce (soy sauce-based and flavored with plenty of chili peppers) and their Red Chili Oil. The creation of chef Yiquan Gu, these sauces are available at all three restaurant locations or can be ordered online. The sauces are so tasty we hear Gu mixes them early in the morning when he can have the kitchen to himself so no one can steal his secrets. We use the Red Chili Oil sparingly since it's all about the punch that heat can add to a meal, and the sweet, spicy, garlicky Amazing Dumpling Sauce is a new favorite, an easy way to dress up not just dumplings but all kinds of noodle and rice dishes. The Gus suggest you try using the sauce for a marinade or in salad dressing as well.
$10 per 10-ounce bottle. Available at Gu's Dumplings, 99 Krog Street in Atlanta, 6330 Halycon Way in Alpharetta and 4897 Buford Highway in Chamblee and online at gusdumplings.com.
Nick’s Grecian Sauce from Grecian Gyro
“Once a week, go Greek” is the famous tag line for Grecian Gyro restaurants, an Atlanta institution for over 30 years. One of the foundations for their success is their secret Grecian sauce served on wraps and available with their plates. They’re not sharing the recipe, but they are making the sauce available in 16-ounce bottles for you to take home and enjoy. You can also get the spicy version of the sauce and their Grecian salad dressing flavored with lots of garlic and oregano. The Midtown location has a small retail area where you can pick up the sauces as well as Greek specialties like ouzo-flavored hard candy and a refrigerated case with favorites such as feta and Greek olives. At the other Grecian Gyro locations, the staff will bottle the sauces for you while you wait.
$5.99 per 16-ounce bottle. Available at Grecian Gyro locations in Dunwoody, Forest Park, Hapeville, Midtown, Johns Creek, Snellville and Tucker. greciangyro.com/index.html
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