Sauce Boards Are A Chaotic But Flavorful Alternative For Easy Dipping

Our favorite food-themed drama, "The Bear," introduces the idea of a chaos menu in Season 2, which is generally defined as unexpected yet interesting ingredient combos. Many fusion dishes, such as sushi tacos, are prime examples of this concept. The chaos menu concept can also extend to presentation, especially given the somewhat overworked "everything-on-a-board" trend.

In one video of a sauce board posted on TikTok, the sauce — Papa John's garlic sauce, to be specific — is smeared directly on a wooden cutting board. As no one eats sauce in a vacuum (or with a vacuum, as that would tend to clog the motor), it is also surrounded by items for dipping. This sauce board includes the following: garlic knots, bread sticks, wings, Papa Bites, and pepperoncini. Oddly enough, no pizza. 

The Papa John's-themed sauce board is only one idea; this can work with nearly any condiment or assortment of dippers. Garlic sauce is the TikTok video's focus, but the chain supplies other sauce options like Buffalo and cool ranch. However, don't feel limited by what you can do with a sauce board from a pizza restaurant: Creative expression is only part of the fun. 

If you'd like to create your own sauce board but don't want everything to mix, you can still have chaos interspersed with small islands of order. Corral your sauce in cups instead.

Even though it won't have direct contact with the board, the sauce can still be the focal point. Plus, such a presentation allows you to serve up a selection rather than one. For example, you could create a board with ketchup, mayonnaise, cheese sauce, and ranch dressing with french fries, crudités, and crackers for dipping. Another option might involve chocolate, caramel, and marshmallow sauces with pretzels, bite-sized cookies, and strawberries for heat-free dessert fondue.

If hygiene is a primary concern — and in the wake of a worldwide pandemic, it's something none of us can afford to neglect — there's a way for you to have your sauce board and eat it safely. Instead of serving your sauces in communal dipping pots, scoop individual portions into mini plastic cups. These can easily be purchased from online retailers if they're not readily available in the supermarket. Scatter the sauce cups on a platter as chaotically as you please, intersperse them with finger foods for dipping, and delight your guests with a hygienic take on the food board trend.