Condiment in the Reading Terminal Market: So simple it hurts

When Elizabeth Halen opens Condiment with the walls of Reading Terminal Market this month, several aspects of its ideology will hit you like a ton of bricks. First, its name, as in how did no one ever call a food spot Condiment before? “It’s so simple, it hurts, right?” says Halen, the longtime owner of Flying Monkey Bakery in the Market.

Then there’s the personal reason as to how Halen came to conceive of a homemade sauce salon, butter boite, curry club and maker of couture mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, fruit preserves and such.

“My boyfriend and I make mostly everything we eat from scratch, so that when he we was temporarily out of work I told him to do something around the house – make our butter, for instance.” Not only did he accept the challenge, that fresh cream butter tasted better than any butter before.

Last, but not least, with her bakery a crucial part of the Market, Halen watched as consumers of quality fresh meats, fish and produce had to go elsewhere for the same level of quality when it came to putting together a meal.

“Sauces for meats or desserts, ketchup that didn’t sit on a shelf, that sort of thing, even pre-made pie crusts or dough – people had to leave Reading Terminal Market for those goods. I wanted to create something that would keep shoppers in the Market. We could do it all here.”