An Open Letter to Our Visitors Mary reminded me recently that soon after our move to Chicago from Cleveland in 1988, she and I went looking for cooking classes in Chinatown. To the source, we figured. Well, I guess we hit every kind of storefront from grocers to herbalists to the branch library before some local suggested we try the Cultural Center at the top of the block. The sagacious Oriental gent whom we were told could sign us up looked perplexed: “Don’t know already how to make sandwich?” Sure enough, according to the course plan our first four weeks would be spent learning sandwich-making from the ground up. “What about lo mein, moo shu, kung po ?” I asked. "You joking?” he said, “Everyone in Chinatown know already Chinese cooking!” Well, there ya go—two dozen square blocks of what we’d come for but no way to get at it. So, we started shopping the neighborhood groceries along Cermak and Wentworth Avenues ( like the people who “ know already Chinese cooking” do) ... and soon after Argyle on the north side for our Vietnamese and Thai needs. If not careful, 15 years sourcing ethnic markets —including Indian, Middle Eastern, Mexican and others—in a city like Chicago may bestow upon one a knowledge of ingredients, spices and techniques that’s virtually encyclopedic. And then having given the obsession a name ... can one NOT talk about it!? Enjoy! Brian McMahon					ensaucelopedia© is an ever growing compendium of select imported prepared sauces and condiments. Its mission: to demystify “exotic cuisine”, thereby enabling the casual cook to make spicy international recipes quickly and easily in the home kitchen ... with superlative results. Through information and actual product sales, ensaucelopedia.com® will introduce the use of prepared sauces to the average North American cook. We call it Speed Cuisine for the Casual Cook™ — the “Casual Cook” being anyone who agrees that food preparation should be less complicated and more fun in their daily and special event menu planning.