Most days we want nothing more than an agreeable meal, a dish not too high in effort that we can dive into; one where our world is momentarily put right, and it didn’t cost much to achieve it.

Condiments, the good condiments, are what take us there. They enliven, bring colour and texture, and they make a dish taste and feel like someone gave a damn.

They are the most powerful tool in your cooking game and when you discover the good ones, they supply a multitude of meal options that can take your cooking to the margins, bringing variety and joy to every single meal, no matter how thrown together and last minute they may be.

If I am not making it myself, these are my top 10 go-to condiments for an instant body slam of flavour.

Crunchy chilli oil

Very few condiments have the capacity to make dishes bounce from culture to comfort with such ease and deliciousness. It belongs over fried eggs; it wants to accompany your avocado on anything and it’s never met a bowl of noodles it didn’t like. The ultimate parent’s condiment to immediately enliven dishes made for smaller, timid palates. I use it so much I’m struggling to find a day that doesn’t include a drizzle or spoonful of this at some point – it is the ultimate flavour hit all-rounder.

• My go-to: Ugly Food Co crunchy chilli oil

Yuzu kosho

This punchy paste packing citrus and chilli is the kind of flavour bomb that’ll spice up pretty much anything. It can elevate any protein with the most intense fresh citrus burst and the slightest, loveliest little nose punch (think of a Dijon mustard hit and we are on the same kind of trajectory). My favourite quick fix: marinating some salmon with yuzu kosho, rice vinegar and garlic. Give it a quick pan fry and serve it with some greens and/or rice and dinner is done.

Lemon curd

The uses of lemon curd are vast. This lemony, buttery sweet gelatinous heaven will levitate the entire dessert spectrum and has never met a baked pudding it couldn’t improve, but my favourite is slathering a free-range butterflied chook in lemon curd and throwing it in a pan with a head of garlic, some lemon thyme and a few extra lemon slices. The sugars speed up the caramelisation of the skin as it roasts, and it gives the loveliest, roundest lemon flavour thanks to the lashings of butter used in its creation.

Vegemite

I am instantly drawn to the thought of buttery toast with Vegemite, a fine and easily achievable mix of carbs, fats and salt. It’s a memory of childhood and of being cared for. But emotional cruxes aside, Vegemite provides the most wondrous umami footprint to any number of dishes (even biscuits). Add a scoop to the water you par boil potatoes in, it will give your roasted taters that perfect golden glow every single time. I won’t make bolognese without it. Ditto any kind of red meat pie. And biting into a fresh scroll slathered in the big V under a blanket of cheese is one of life’s greatest hedonistic yet most simple pleasures.

Dulce de leche

Mellifluous name aside, this is the one that ignited my love and lust for condiments housed in a jar. This Latin American delight is made from slowly cooking milk and sugar together. They’re cooked at a lower temperature than caramel, and their golden colour comes not from the caramelisation of sugar, but from the browning of the lactose and lysine in the milk. It is smooth, rich, decadent and delicious in so many things, from stirring through vanilla ice-cream to adorning a sticky date pudding or whipping into a buttercream frosting.

• My go-to: Chimbote dulce de leche

Oyster sauce

The hero of every quick cook and my holy grail for shortcut flavour making. I love it so much I could dab it behind my ears and wear it as perfume. Its thick, rich, salty, umami and slightly sweet flavour profile does indecently good things whisked through a classic peppercorn sauce; it provides a spectacular rounded mouth feel and backbone to a jus made in a quarter of the time because of it, and every Asian marinade I have ever attempted to make always seems vastly improved by its perfectly balanced flavour.

• My go-to: Megachef premium oyster sauce or the original Lee Kum Kee premium oyster sauce

Kewpie mayo

Kewpie is a beacon, a constant on my food-making horizon and a condiment I cannot live without; I would lick it from any surface it clings too. This rich, yolk-only Japanese mayo is smoother and sweeter – despite containing no sugar – with all the sweetness coming naturally from the egg yolks and blend of vinegars. It is perfect whisked into salad dressings, or for coating salmon or chicken before cooking, and if my kids had anything to do with it, they would have a bowl of the stuff and call it dinner. The fact this can be purchased in one kilogram bottles is the PSA we’ve all been waiting for.

Chimichurri

I love this sprightly sauce full of vinaigrette zip and fresh herbs. A willing complement to roast proteins, it is even better mixed with mayo as a dipping sauce for fries or roasted potatoes, and mind-blowing when combined with butter to melt with largesse over meat or veg. I’d use it for anything that called for pesto without the fear of consuming something that tastes like compost.

Pickle brine

Pickles aside, it’s the brine in the jar that is the mind-blowing flavour bolster. This sleeper hit lives a second life for pickling onions to go with a brisket or to adorn a burger. I’ll stir it through a creamy salad dressing and it makes the best addition to the kind of Bloody Mary we all need the day after the serious night before.

• My go-to: McClure’s sweet and spicy pickles

Muhammara

Muhammara is like a spicy romesco sauce; a virtuous blitz of roasted red peppers and walnuts sweetened with pomegranate molasses. It’s perfect dolloped into an omelette with some feta, served with egg and soldiers or as the perfect partner in crime to all grilled meat, fish and vegetables. It’s never met a warm hunk of bread it didn’t like either and served with hummus and crisp crunchy vegetables it’s the perfect meal when the idea of turning on the oven is too much.

• My go-to: Oasis muhammara capsicum and walnut dip