Pepper

This Ain’t Tabasco!

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Hey folks, today I’ve got something a little strange for you. Something that I just randomly came across in one of my local supermarkets and felt I had to feature. Because, while I’ve talked about McIlhenny Co.’s Tabasco Brand Scorpion Sauce and their Chipotle Cola Marinade, I’ve never seen a “Tobasco” sauce before.

Except, of course, when people misspell it online.

Today’s item, however, has the word slapped right across its centre, beneath the “Dipitt” company name, and it looks a lot more like lawsuit dodging than a mistake, to me. But how does it really compare to the original?

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Strawberry Sriracha?

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Happy tuesday again, everyone. Today, there’s one last little freebie that I have to feature, before the year is out. So go ahead and take a look at this crazy concoction, sent to me by Alkemio Kitchen:

Its labelling may look the same as all of the company’s others but this brown sauce is their Strawberry, Roasted Pepper + Tamarind Sriracha. Which is a highly peculiar, yet enticing, jumble of words. Especially given how much I enjoyed the blend of savoury red peppers and sweet strawberry in The FBI’s Ball Breaker.

Have I saved the best for last? Not intentionally but perhaps I have.

Let’s take a closer look.

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A Black Gem

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Hello again, everyone, and happy tuesday!

Just last weekend, we revisited an old friend of the site and had some fun with one of my favourites. But, today, I’m hoping to enjoy something new and special from another former feature.

This is “Blackman Eddy’s”, from Opal Sunshine. A company who I’ve not seen or heard from since she sent me her main line-up. But, when her fourth sauce appeared on my social media, I just knew that I had give it a go. Because it’s completely different from the pepper and carrot-forward blends that I’ve previously seen from belizean cuisine.

This is a black garlic sauce, with dates, tamarind and avocado oil, for flavour. And, while it does pack the hottest chilli of any of Opal’s products, it’s far from the first thing on her ingredients list.

So I’m really curious to see how such a unique and not so chilli-forward, belizean-style sauce will taste.

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The New Moon

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Happy new year, everyone! For the second time this month.

I’m well aware of how strange that might seem but this week’s post is a little bit different. Because it’s not just a late celebration of the julian new year, like my previous feature, but a spotlight on two chinese-style products, for the lunar one. Which took place a mere four days ago.

So, this time around, I’m actually on time. Here’s what I’ve got:

Dragon Salt from Tubby Tom and a special sauce from Chilli Bobs, which I’ll give you a closer look at in a moment or two.

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A Tropical Chart Topper

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Hello again, heat eaters!

Today, I have a rather unusual feature for you all. One which, unlike most of my finds, comes from a local supermarket and a very well known brand.

You see, I got a bit of a tip-off, recently. One of my readers mentioned that they’d seen a new carolina reaper sauce, in the wild, from one of Encona’s caribbean-style rivals. And I got curious.

But what really sold me on this particular product was actually its ingredients list:

Carolina Reaper Peppers (60%), Water, Sugar Cane Vinegar, Salt, Onion, Limes, Garlic, Antioxidant: Ascorbic Acid, Thickener: Xanthan Gum

Sixty percent reaper, at big brand prices, is completely unheard of! So, if Tropical Sun can deliver on everything that the number implies, this isn’t just going to be a hell of a hot sauce. It’s going to be a complete game changer!

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Red Rival Jams

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Happy tuesday again, everyone!

Today marks the first of my july reviews and, with it, the end of my unexpectedly hectic birth month. This week, I get to relax a little and try out two simple chilli jams, from A Bit of a Pickle and The Smokey Carter.

PickleCarterJams

Each using a different, named chilli – One habanero and the other scotch bonnet – but both relying on a base of sugar and red bells to carry them.

Obviously, these aren’t going to be the same sort of breakfast jam that we saw in South Devon Chilli Farm’s elderflower. They’re going to be a pepper forward, somewhat savoury pair that’s better suited to spreading over cheeses and meats. But how much of that pepper flavour is actually going to come from their namesake varieties? And how different will these two be?

I’m very curious to find out.

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Pink Pepper Brownies

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Hey folks, it’s sunday and you all know what that means. It’s recipe time again.

Given everything that’s been going on this month, though, I wanted to keep my april recipe simple and use only items that I had on hand. Since, you know, going out for ingredients more than you need to is a bit irresponsible right now.

So, with that in mind, I thought I’d revisit the idea of brownies and spice them up in a whole new way. One that’s a bit more about the spices and a little less about the infusion of superhots.

PeppercornBrownie

I have, after all, been wanting to play with pink peppercorns for quite some time.

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Creamy Caribbean

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Happy tuesday, fiery food fans! Last week was fiesta time with Saucey Lady and yesterday was a nice, relaxed birthday celebration for one of my relatives but today, we’re back to work in the Pepper Kitchen.

Yes, this week, we’re trying sauce from Pepper Kitchen – A three-man company from east london who put their own spin on a trinidadian family recipe. Or should I say spins?

After all, I don’t just have the one bottle from them:

PKSauces

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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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Stir-Fried Spuds

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Sup peeps. Earlier this week, we looked at some szechuan-style peanuts from Brighton Hot Stuff that I highly recommended using in a stir-fry.

I stand by that recommendation but, today, I’m going to add a caveat. They went really well into both noodle and rice-based stir-fries and they’d be just as good in a veg-heavy one but there’s a lesser known type of traditional stir-fry that I don’t see them working in. Potato Stir-fry.

Yep, you read that right. There’s a real chinese dish where they slice potatoes into ultra-fine strips and cook them like noodles. Albeit a touch more al denté.

I’m not going to lie, it’s super weird the first time you try it. It’s completely unlike any western form of spud. Yet keep going, for a few mouthfuls, and you’ll soon come to love it.

I discovered this dish at Xi’an Impressions, in london, on route to Challock Chilli Fest. I picked up a taste for it there that turned into a craving, during my recent brighton trip, but, unfortunately, I never made it back.

Instead, I’ve had to learn to cook shredded potato stir-fry myself. And now I’m going to teach you.

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