Spicefreak

Happy tuesday again, spice lovers! Today marks the return of my most recent sample-sender – Opal Sunshine.

Now, last time we looked at her sauces, Opal did prove herself to be rather heavy handed with the spices in the best of ways but will she still be so when their main focus is their fruit content? That’s what my next two reviews of her company are set to find out. Starting with her Lime-Anero blend.

In terms of ingredients, today’s product is barely any different from her original sauce. That one had lime in it already and its placement on the list has not changed. All that’s different is the apple juice below it:

Habanero Peppers, Scotch Bonnet Peppers, Fresh Carrots, Onion, Garlic, Recardo, Lime Juice, apple juice White Vinegar, Sugar, Salt.

Yet I can assure you, this is most certainly not the same sauce.

It’s the same consistency on my spoon and only a little bit lighter in colour but the flavour of the Lime-Anero is quite different. Very fresh, zesty and lime-forward.

Such a fragrant lime taste, in fact, that I find it hard to believe it’s just from juice.

But it compliments the lightly fruity habanero base of the sauce well and, while it does fight with the garlic and spices – The uniquely belizean recardo that I talked about previously – the two opposing sides to the product strike a nice, even balance. One which allows their contrast to shine, rather than letting either dominate.

The more savoury, red, fruity element of the scotch bonnets is less prominent this time around but again, I feel like that’s actually a plus. I enjoy a good scotch bonnet sauce, certainly, but today’s product seems to work better with the habanero dominating its chilli blend, since the more orange pepper undertones better support the bright, sharp lime.

It’s possible that there’s less chilli in this particular sauce but, if so, it’s not a lot less. It’s still enough for another

3.5/10

Heat

and the sharpness of the additional citrus actually makes it slightly more prominent.

Opal’s Lime-Anero is, in my opinion, an excellent sauce that manages to meld her own, bold spices with the fresher tastes of the one other belizean producer I know of. And its light-ish green label only serves to signal that added freshness.

I like it even more than her original but, as I anticipated in my earlier review, the original seems to be her more all-purpose sauce.

Today’s isn’t as well suited to soups and stews, in my opinion, but will still go with a rich bolognese or burritos. And, on the flip side, its extra acidity makes it great for pizza.