🌈 Food People, Parent Picks: Sako's Favorite Things 🥔
Sako Gordon shares her condiment obsessions, comfort meals, and farmer’s market go-tos
Food People, Parent Picks: we ask our favorite chefs, food writers, and industry insiders who we interview in our Order Up! Series to share the products, books, and bites they can’t live without.
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Sako Gordon is the owner of Ayako and Family, a second-generation family-owned Japanese jam and shokupan bread company in Seattle that honors tradition while embracing small-batch creativity. To honor Pride Month, we’re celebrating the rich, intersecting identities within our community — starting with our Order Up! Interview with Sako, a queer, second-generation Japanese-American. She’s a condiment queen, a lover of high-fat butter, and a firm believer in the power of a well-stocked farmer’s market haul. Below, she shares her go-to comfort meal, unexpected jam pairings, and the kid-friendly Japanese dish she swears by.
🍴 What's something you always have in your fridge?
Mayonnaise. Always. I have a whole collection, but Best Foods is the one and only for me. I'm a condiment girlie—what can I say?
🍓 Any surprising jam pairings you love?
I love jam on savory things! I once made a fried pork belly and fennel sandwich with apricot jam—so good. Mortadella with plum jam? Also amazing. I know jam and charcuterie are a classic combo, but I like taking it a step further.
🥘 What’s your quick comfort meal?
Japanese curry with boxed roux, like Vermont Curry. I keep it super simple—it’s nostalgic and cozy. Making the roux from scratch is a process, and while I love doing it occasionally with my friend Sonoko’s homemade powder, most of the time I just pop in the cubes and call it dinner. That’s how they do it in Japan, too!
🥣 Do you have a store-bought shortcut you swear by?
Definitely boxed curry roux. It's just the best shortcut—no shame in that game.
🔪 Kitchen tool you reach for all the time?
A small offset spatula. Perfect for spreading all the condiments I love. Totally on-brand for me.
🧈 Is there a baking ingredient that feels like a little luxury?
A really good French butter with a high fat content and a little crunch. We use it in our bread, and it truly makes a difference. It’s not something I buy all the time, but it feels special every time I do.
🥓 Dream farmers market haul—what’s in your bag?
Eggs and bacon from my friends at Skagit River Ranch, Japanese greens like mizuna, and Japanese cucumbers and eggplants from my farmer, and his farm Mair Farm Taki. Local miso, farmer’s cheese, Oregon hazelnuts, and my favorite Seattle honey. I could go on and on.
🍚 Is there a food ritual from your childhood you still make or think about?
My grandmother’s shokupan toast, of course. But another favorite is tamago kake gohan—hot rice with a raw egg whipped in and a splash of soy sauce. The rice cooks the egg just enough, and it’s such a quick, protein-packed, kid-friendly meal. If you have a rice cooker, it’s perfect to prep ahead.
🥧 Favorite food gift to give or receive?
Homemade food from friends—especially something from their culture or family. That’s absolutely my love language. Pantry treasures from home are the best kind of gift.
🍯 Any artisan or local food makers you’d like to shout out?
So many! My local farmer, Mair Farm Taki of course, Saba Parsa in the Bay Area (an incredible Iranian-American jam maker - check out SABA), and Anna Sugiyama of Yoka Miso—she makes amazing miso here in Seattle.