IT’s common place in cooking to flap about the meal as a whole. But little time for thought is given to what actually goes into the dish, or alongside the dish, which could be the maker or breaker.

For a change, I’m going to make condiments and sauces the central focus. After all, what would a bacon buttie be without tomato sauce? A sandwich without mayonnaise? Or a salad without dressing?

Too often we take for granted the humble condiment, so it’s about time we celebrate it.

Either make it from scratch for a rustic touch, or simply buy the trusted brands we’ve come to know so well.

Head to bakery Staff of Life, Kendal, for their ciabatta style bread with herbs and olive oil at £2.80.

This would be great for Italian-inspired sandwiches, or why not keep it simple and enjoy it dipped in some the greatest condiments of all - extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Alternatively, try something new in their brown or white elderflower sourdoughs at £2.80. Just warm it up and enjoy with butter. You could even use their rustica bread as the basis of a ‘posh’ burger.

Peter Hutchinson Butchers, Greenodd, have pork and black pudding burgers at £7.20 per kilo.

Opt for the typical tomato sauce, or make your own using tomatoes, onions, garlic, brown sugar, tomato puree and coriander seeds.

Cartmel Cheeses have a choice of three ideal matches for your burger. Great for melting, try a classic artisan Somerset 12-month-old Westcombe Cheddar at about £21.50 per kilo.

They also have Stichelton blue from Nottinghamshire made with raw milk at about £35 per kilo. Be outrageous and treat yourself to Cardo goats cheese, an ‘exquisite’ cheese packed full of flavour. At £49 per kilo, this is as extravagant in price as it is in flavour, but I’m assured a little goes a long way...

To go alongside your burger, or any sarnie, make your own mayonnaise with free range eggs from Bowland Bridge Stores at £1.50 for six. Just beat the egg yolks with oil, white wine vinegar, salt, pepper and mustard.

They also have Westmorland Honey at £6.50 for a 1b jar, made with bees from within a five mile radius of the village. Add the honey to oil, white wine vinegar, seedy mustard and a pinch of sugar for a fresh and tasty dressing.

Pour this over a big salad to go in a sandwich or to have on the side. Powells Greengrocers, Sedbergh, have Lancashire grown lettuces at £1.15 each.

Choose from endive, oak leaf and lollo rosso or mix them all together. The salad would also go well with pork pies from Country Harvest, Ingleton. Made by their bakery in Bentham, these recipe award-winning pies are £1.25 each or five for £5.

Get creative and make your own mustard or just enjoy with good old Coleman’s. Try them out at their tasting weekend on Saturday and Sunday (June 7 and 8).

For something easy, Greenlands Farm Village, Carnforth, has the delicious accompaniment to any steak and chips in the form of Country Classic’s steak diane sauce at £2.65 for 284g.

Part of the same range by The Marmalade Tree, they also have Chaffeur tomato, cream and pepper cooking sauce at £2.80 for 470g.