Sainsburys Peri Peri Sauce
Peri-Peri or Piri Piri is Swahili for “pepper-pepper” and is name commonly used for the African Bird’s Eye chilli. It seems to be a style of chilli sauce that has become more mainstream probably in part due to the success of Nando’s restaurants in the UK. This being a Sainsburys own-brand sauce I have to admit I was somewhat sceptical about how good this sauce in comparison to the many other specialist chilli sauces I’ve tried – certainly I figured that it wouldn’t be a hot experience.
The labelling is quite minimalist in approach with a graphic of some chillies on the front of the bottle and Sainsbury’s traffic light health labelling on the front (which advises me that there’s a high salt content in this product). The sauce is also marked as being suitable for vegans.
Ingredients: Water, spices (salt, Dried Mixed pepper, Onion Powder, Rice Flour, Lemon Juice Powder, Paprika, Cayenne Pepper, Chilli Powder, Garlic Powder, Colour: Paprika Extract; Natural Flavouring), Onion, Lemon Puree, Spirit Vinegar, Green Chilli Puree (5%), Rapeseed Oil, Concentrated Lemon Juice, Stabiliser: Xantham Gum; Salt.
Opening the bottle and smelling the sauce I initially got quite a sharp hit of vinegar and then a combination of citrus lemon & garlic tones. The sauce is a rich orange / brown colour and pours easily from the bottle, leaning towards being more runny than thick. Tasting the sauce I found I got quite a strong citrus hit (more than I expected) and whilst I could detect other ingredients such as the garlic powder and onion, I found the flavours not well balanced. The lemon flavour is too dominant and over powering and results in sharp aftertaste.
With regards to heat, whilst the ‘3 chilli’ rating on the label implies it has some kind of heat, this isn’t going to do anything for chilli head. There’s a hint of warmth which builds somewhat as more is consumed but that’s about it. This product is squarely aimed at the ‘Joe Average’ masses and so would probably be a medium hot for them.
Whilst at only £1.19 it’s certainly inexpensive overall I found my supermarket brand scepticism was well served. I think this sauce is trying to be a clone of the Nando’s Peri Peri style sauces but alas it’s a poor imitation of them and hits well off the mark.
| Flavour |   (3/10) |
| Heat | (2/10) |
| Packaging | (3/10) |
| Value | (5/10) |
| Overall | (3/10) |
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This could be very interesting. Upon smelling the sauce I immediately get a salsa aroma, lots of tomato and citrus and a warming smell of the crushed chillis. I can just about make out the smell of Naga’s but above all it’s the salsa aroma, be it a more chilli salsa than a mild salsa.
