Spicefreak

Greetings, everyone, and welcome back for another tuesday review.

This week, we’re looking at Saucey Lady again and not just any one of their sauces. The Birds & Bonnets, named for its signature blend of bird’s eye and scotch bonnet chillies, is my favourite of her whole range.

And sure, it’s not anything special to look at but that just means that I don’t have to talk about the bottle. If you are interested in Kaz’ packaging, though, I did do a brief overview of her container choices almost exactly a year ago. Back when I wrote this week’s post.

You can still get what you’re after in that one.

Today’s, on the other hand, is all about the deliciousness within. Which, I’m sure you’ll agree, is what really counts.

It looks thin but it flows in a controlled manner as I fill my spoon and, when I’m done, its colour is quite enticing.

A vibrant orange with shreds of red that you might think came from its red chilli and pineapple pairing. Yet, while the shreds actually are of bird’s eyes and bonnets, it’s as much Kaz’ use of bell peppers that colour her sauce.

And, while bell peppers are usually my least favourite peppers for flavour, I’ve always made an exception for the sweeter, fruitier, orange variety. A perfect fit for a tangy, fruity ingredients list like this:

pineapples, sweet orange peppers, birds eye chillies, scotch bonnet chillies, lemon, cider vinegar, sugar

One that, with its combination of pineapple, sweetened vinegar and bell peppers, makes for a very chinese taste. An extra pepper heavy sweet and sour one, with less added sugar to focus on the more natural sweetness of those peppers.

It’s smooth and sticky, despite its shreds, and perfect for meats, tofu, noodles and stir fry.

Paired with sesame oil on those foods, it reminds me of the Crafty Bustard’s sauce, only with the ratios reversed so that most of the fruitiness comes from its scotch bonnet content and the pineapple takes a little more of a back seat. It’s just as fruity and nearly as tropical but not in the same way on either front.

It’s its own thing, though, despite my comparison, and it falls just outside the realm of what I’d call medium, at a high

3/10

Heat

The lower limit of my “hot”, coming in sharpish as you swallow.

I really like this Birds & Bonnets sauce and I find it highly usable, to the point where it’s become my instant go to for just about every chinese food. I’d definitely recommend it.