Bird’s Eye

Pink Pickles

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Hey folks, it’s tuesday again and, today, I feel like trying something new. A different kind of product than anything that I’ve brought you before:

These are Chilli Bobs’ pickled onions, made with chilli and pink peppercorns. And labelled in pink and purple, to match.

Their kilner jar, alone, is quite distinctive. Yet so, too, is the pepper and I’ve previously found that those little pink peppercorns pair wonderfully with spicy food. Though I’d never have thought of using them in a setting like this.

Chilli Bobs’ pickled onions are an extremely creative product and there’s still at least one more surprise, hidden within. So let’s have a look, shall we?

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Scotch Bhajis

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Alright, everyone, I’ve been working on this silly little recipe for quite a while now and I’m finally able to show it to you:

My take on the onion bhaji “scotch eggs” that I used to grab from local food markets, before the world got plunged into chaos by this pandemic. An indian classic on the outside, yet oh so gooey and british within:

Delicious with any number of different chutneys, tamarind sauces and green chilli products. Or simply dripping with its own yolk.

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Somerset Chilli Choc

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Hey folks, it’s february and I really appreciate all of you, for reading my reviews and making this blog feel worthwhile. Chilli is my love and my passion but it’s you, dear readers, who give my writing meaning. And so, with that in mind, I’d like to share my valentine’s day chocolates with you.

Chocolates which are, of course, very on brand for my site ;).

This year’s come to me from Somerset Chilli Garden – Not to be confused with The Somerset Chilli Co. – and were actually sent to me a little in advance of their public release. Since a friend of mine happens to live nearby and put me in touch, back when they were still just prototypes.

What I have now, however, are the finished release. Just a little bit early, in order to give you all a good look at what’s inside, before you buy.

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Encona do Fear the Reaper

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Happy thursday again, everyone. Recently, it has come to my attention that Encona have made some rather drastic changes to their old carolina reaper sauce and, as a result, I cannot, in good faith, leave my previous review of it alone.

That post will remain accessible here and through my search bar but it will, from now on, be prefaced with a warning that it does not reflect the new version of the product on the market and it will be removed from my review catalogue, in order to replace it with today’s updated article.

So, read on for my opinion on the updated sauce but do be warned – I’ve not got the best of expectations for this one. Especially given its atrocious new label:

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Chilli with a Cause

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Hello again, everyone. For this week’s review, I have another collaborative product on my hands, courtesy of Brighton Hot Stuff. A second free sample that they’ve sent me, made in conjunction with another organisation.

Unlike their Cauldron, however, this bird’s eye sauce is entirely their own creation. They aren’t working with another producer and they’re not using someone else’s fermented base but they are still making a big deal out of who supplies the product’s namesake peppers.

Because those peppers aren’t your average, supermarket sort. They’re a native african bird’s eye strain, grown in uganda by a charity called “Chilli Children”.

This sauce has been made, in conjunction with that charity, to highlight both their cause and the fierce heat and flavour of the peppers which they export. And it gives back two pounds fifty to them, with every bottle.

So let’s see what it – And they – are about, shall we?

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Dutch Green

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Welcome to the new year, everyone! Today may be the seventh but it’s also the first tuesday of twenty-twenty and time for my annual green sauce review – A “new” pepper for a new year, if you will.

This year’s sauce, however, is a little more than just another blend of herbs and under-ripe chilli. It also represents a new craze that’s been sweeping the nation. One for a rather different green item, known as cannabidiol isolate, or CBD oil.

It’s hot stuff – At least in the marketing sense – and there’s nowhere that it’s caught on more than in brighton, so you know exactly which company I’m talking about, this week. Yet it’s also something of an eighteen plus topic, so I’ll be leaving my product shot and the explanation of what exactly CBD oil is until after that “Continue reading” button.

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Salty Seconds

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Greetings again, fiery food fans. Today’s feature comes, at least in part, from one of you. So, if you’re reading this, Verminskyi, thanks for the suggestion!

But, that said, I didn’t want to bring you all just one product this week. I’m not just showcasing the requested Wiltshire Chilli Farm salt.

No, I’m pairing it with a second product from an equally well known brand. Another naga salt, similarly-spiked with peppercorns to enhance both heat and flavour. This week, we’re looking at The Chilli Jam Man, too:

WCFCJMsalts

A second salt-based showdown to test Wiltshire’s “fearless flavour” oncemore and see how they fair against a more mainstream opponent.

Will their second salt knock it out of the park, like their milder chipotle sort, or will the Jam Man prove himself the fiercer rival? Read on to find out!

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Trick or Trinidad?

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Happy halloween, my fellow heat freaks. It’s trick or treat time and I’m really hoping that today’s seasonal special is the treat that I was promised.

CauldronSauce

This “cauldron” sauce has come to me, quite last minute, from the lovely folk of Brighton Hot Stuff. Too late to make my usual tuesday timeslot. Yet the company’s previous products have earnt my respect through their flavour and I’m willing to fit them in, where I can, with that rare thursday review.

There is, however, a nagging voice in the back of my mind which can’t be ignored. One that’s more sceptical of this sudden freebie, thinking “This would be the perfect time for a company to prank you with another Hell Unleashed.”. And it’s not just BHS’ work, either. It’s a collaboration with a company who I can find very little about online. One by the name of Lazy Scientist.

So, while it’s likely no more than my own paranoia, I’m going to be taking things a touch more cautiously with today’s review.

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Hopping to It

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Alright, everyone, you’ve heard of hot sauce but, today, we’re looking at hop sauce. A green and herby bird’s eye blend from Hop Burns & Black. The most well known chilli retailer in london.

I picked up a few things, when I was last there, but today’s “Hoptimo” is special. Not just because it contains hops but also because it’s a custom creation from Slow Richie’s and Brick Brewery, made specially for the store. This is a Hop Burns exclusive:

Hoptimo

But it does, indeed, contain hops. The signature ingredient in one of the shop owners’ other passions: Craft beer.

And, in this review, we’re going to find out what those hops do for hot sauce flavour.

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Chiltepin Caramel

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Hey folks, it’s sunday and time for another recipe but, as I mentioned in my thursday post, I’ve not been at my wellest this month. In fact, at my worst, I was physically incapable of keeping down anything with a strong flavour.

Yet, as much of an inconvenience as that was, I don’t bring it up just to whine at you. I’m mentioning it because that time led me to appreciate the delicacy of vanilla, egg and nutmeg in a custard tart – The british dish on which today’s little dessert is based. The starting point, if you will, for the recipe that follows.

But, much as I’ve come to love that pudding, this one’s a little bit different and it contains, as you might expect, my own chilli twist.

What you might not expect, though, is the source of that twist: The sonoran desert between the US and mexico. Home of the wild “chiltepin” pepper.

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