There are condiments that work best when they’re added to other foods, and then there are condiments so good that they’re a star attraction in their own right. Such is the case with Caracas Arepa Bar’s spicy, sweet, and tangy house sauce — or, as Caracas co-owner Maribel Araujo calls it, “salsa Caracas.”
I first encountered the gleaming, yellowish-green sauce in 2008. I was 19 years old, and had just moved to New York from my parents’ home in Gurgaon, India, to attend college. On one of my first solo outings to Manhattan, I made my way straight to Caracas. Although I didn’t know much about the city or its food scene, an aunt had told me that I had to check out the restaurant, which served what she described as the perfect street food.