Whenever I dine outside, one thing makes me more crazy to lose control!! Its very silly to even term it as a dish! Yes, am talking about the ‘Dipping Oil’ for the breads and rolls. Whether it be garlic flavored butter oil for the bread sticks or a simple vinaigrette to the Greek salad…its so addictive. And, makes me to go on and on for the same exact combinations!

Who can really resist the beautiful combination of a semi-warm bread with rich luscious oil and aromatic herbs. The dipping oil (the carefully seasoned one) would take an ordinary crusted bread to next level with its extra rich, bold flavors. Although its kind of simple to fix a oil based dipper…its very complicated on how it works on your taste buds. It forms a strong gustatory impulse that you madly wanna experience the same flavor! Well, there are variety of combinations that goes well with so many types of breads and dinner rolls. Once you tasted them, you may keep going back to the exact same pairing. Yeah, I mean it! Wanna bet??

People who knew me, know that I love to play with ingredients! But, one tiny detail…I never play with the flavors!  Yes, I just follow the thumb rule and try to stick to the original version! If something is too good, I really shield my lajja and ask for the seconds helpings. Thus, few bearers (those who really bared me) were kind enough to offer me recipes. And, also a quick internet search revealed that such recipes (foodies) do exist. And, hence forth…I combined my favorite dip.

• Clarified butter + pinch of garlic powder + lil Parmesan cheese – Pizza crusts
• Clarified butter + chili flakes + garlic powder – Bread sticks
• Extra virgin olive oil + 1 drop of balsamic vinegar + pinch of freshly ground pepper (coarse) – French breads.
• Extra virgin olive oil + freshly ground pepper (coarse) + oregano flakes + 1 tsp of Italian herbs mix – Subs and Italian breads
• Fresh butter (salted) smooth at room temperature – warm croissants.
• Safflower oil + onion powder + chili flakes – pumpernickel or other sour breads.

I am not going to pretend that many a meal would be content to simply sit with the bread, the pipping hot breads, artistically created dipping oil…hmmmm, who needs an actual meal?