Dips are commonly used for finger foods, appetizers, and other food types. Thick dips based on sour cream, crème fraîche, milk, yogurt, mayonnaise, soft cheese, or beans are a staple of American hors d'oeuvres and are thicker than spreads, which can be thinned to make dips.[1] Celebrity Chef Alton Brown suggests that a dip is defined based on its ability to "maintain contact with its transport mechanism over three feet of white carpet".[2]