Cheers for chutney, a versatile relish

Take a seat, salsa. Chutney is stepping up to the plate. According to the July-August issue of Metropolitan Home, chutney is the newest condiment to dazzle American cooks. This versatile Indian relish, with its range of spiciness and textures, adds interesting flavors to ordinary dishes. The magazine's editors suggest coconut chutney to perk up a sandwich or a pear-cranberry version to go with roast duck or chicken.

The selling of couscous

Check out the new TV commercial on couscous. It's a catchy marketing campaign by Near East to make this strange-sounding Mediterranean side dish pronounced "koos-koos" a household staple. I love it when the woman in the ad tells her male mate, "You're such a couch couscous," or when another guy tells his buddy, "I'm just a meat-and-couscous kind of guy." Point taken. This tiny, quick-cooking pasta can work as well as potatoes or rice with an entree.

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Pub Date: 06/23/99