Cloves

Cafe Louisiane – Sweet Cajun Blackening Sauce

by Hot Juan on July 26, 2011 · 0 comments

in Product Reviews

Cafe Louisiane - Sweet Cajun Blackening Sauce

Cafe Louisiane - Sweet Cajun Blackening Sauce

Cayenne seems to be the chilli of choice for Cajun cooking, with it’s slight dry flavour and punch of heat.  But the Cayenne is one of just a handful the chilli varieties that seems to have spread around the world becoming synonymousness with many different regional styles of cooking while retaining it identity.

This bottle has one of those plastic drippers that annoys me so much, but after ripping that from the bottle, I can actually smell  the heady concoction of Allspice, Cinnamon, Cloves and the slight dry smell from the Cayenne peppers.

This sauce has that almost Christmas scent, as that is when we seem to use these spices in our cooking, but as a Cajun ingredients they are an all year around flavour. This sauce is thin almost water like consistency with a uniform red/brown colour, the taste is not watery the first thing that hits my taste buds is the Allspice then a slight bit of sweet vinegar, then the unique Cayenne flavour backed up by the Salt, Cloves and finally just a touch of Cinnamon.

Ingredients: Aged Cayenne Pepper, Vinegar, Salt, Sugar, Allspice, Cinnamon, Cloves, Xanthan Gum.

Supplied by www.hot-headz.com

This is not a HOT hot sauce, even the cayenne’s bite has been tempered, but the overall flavour is almost magical, I can feel the urge to cook some chicken tonight, how about mixng some of this bottle with some yoghurt and trying a kind of fusion Cajun/Tandoori, marinading the chicken in the mix for a few hours and then grilled on the BBQ until cooked with a nice crisp almost burned coating..

Always a little worried when I see the term ‘Aged Peppers’ in the ingredients list, when I age a pepper it is generally as I have forgotten them and find then in the bottom of the fridge, doing what only well aged veg can do.. In this case I think they mean the peppers have been ground in to a mash and stored with some salt for a year for two to let the flavour develop.

At £3.99 a bottle you are getting a very unusual sauce, not something I would expect a UK producer to make, it does not fit our normal traditions, but as a nation we have yet to discover the world of Cajun cooking, but it will be coming to a TV screen soon I am sure. I wonder which TV chef will be the first to discover this, before they do, buy a bottle of this and be ahead of the crowd.

Flavour
(8/10)
Heat
(4/10)
Packaging
(7/10)
Value
(7/10)
Overall
(7/10)

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Bim’s Kitchen Spicy African Ketchup

by Mrs Naga on June 29, 2011 · 0 comments

in Product Reviews

Bim's Kitchen - Spicy African Ketchup

Bim's Kitchen - Spicy African Ketchup

This small family run business has a love for using African ingredients in their sauces which is where the heart of this operation stands and really makes them unique.

Ingredients: Tomatoes, Brown Sugar, Lemon Juice, Garlic, White Vinegar, Onion, Soy Sauce, Salt, Alligator Pepper, Black Peppercorns, Birdseye Chillies, Thyme, Oregano, Fenugreek, Ginger, Molasses, Pomegranate Molasses, Corn Flour, Xanthan Gum, Cubeb, Fenugreek, Paprika, Cloves, Cinnamon.

Bim’s Kitchen Spicy African Ketchup is suitable for vegetarians and vegans and our review bottle was kindly provided by www.bimskitchen.co.uk

Packaged in a tall, 250ml bottle with a thin white label, this sauce is dark reddish brown, thick with a really textured consistency with herbs, seeds and bits of flesh. It has a really distinctive root like vegetable sort of smell (a bit like celery) with a lot of sweet smelling herbs.

This ketchup has a really earthy taste, in a good way. The tomatoes hold a lot of the other flavours like fenugreek and onion. The flesh and herb bits floating around give it a lovely texture which really brings out different tastes every time you sample it. As this ketchup lists the chillies on the ingredients quite low down, I must say there isn’t much chilli flavour. There is also very little burn, but the addition of ginger really brings out more heat. The background warming sensation is pleasant and not at all overbearing. The molasses really makes this ketchup sweet, but not sickly. Unlike your standard ketchup, this spicy African ketchup has none of the salty acidic flavour that makes you thirsty.

I feel that this can be a whole lot more than just a spicy ketchup. This could be a dip for crisps or crudités, with fish and chips, on your summer barbecue meats. The Bim’s Kitchen suggests that you can use it as a salad dressing, adding to mayonnaise, marinades and coleslaw. You can turn it into a marinade. I feel it would be great in a cheese sandwich!

At £4.00 a 250ml bottle, its not the cheapest bottle of ketchup BUT it is worth the money for the flavour. If you’re entering the chilli world, this is a great product to wean you in slowly. Such great flavour and a delightful little burn, this should be a staple in your cupboards.

Flavour
(9/10)
Heat
(2/10)
Packaging
(5/10)
Value
(8/10)
Overall
(8/10)

Editors Note: I messed up the rating on this sauce they are now correct.. Sorry.

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Old Texas BBQ – Original Barbeque Sauce Review

by Hot Juan on June 15, 2010 · 0 comments

in Bar-B-Que,Product Reviews

Old Texas BBQ - Original Barbeque Sauce

Old Texas BBQ - Original Barbeque Sauce

The bottle tells us that this Barbeque Sauce comes from authentic recipe via the cowboy trails from El Paso to San Antonio dating back to the 1850’s.

 

I love BBQ and BBQ sauces, but here in the UK we use BBQ Grills and so these type of sauces need to be used correctly and only added to food either after cooking or during the last few moments of cooking. Unlike marinades or rubs they contain lots of sugar, which if used on the direct hear of a BBQ grill will burn and start to taste very unpleasant.

This BBQ sauce is a real find, it is sweet, but not overly sticky, it has a excellent smoky flavour, that is imparted by some liquid smoke, but without the chemical after taste I often find with added smoke flavours.

It coats the food well; we used it on some chicken, adding it after cooking, it really enhanced the flavour of the food.

Ingredients: Water, Brown Sugar, Tomato Paste, Prepared Yellow Mustard, Distilled Vinegar, Liquid Smoke, Molasses, Granulated Garlic Salt, Salt, Chilli Powder, Dehydrated Onion, Onion Granulated, Xanthan Gum, Citric Acid, Cayenne Pepper, Ground Cumin, Ground Oregano, Ground Cloves.

(Bottle kindly provided by Hot Headz)

I don’t think I have tasted a better Texas style BBQ sauce in the UK, each of the ingredients works well together to produce a product packed with flavour. In many cases this sauce can be used rescue that burned burger, chicken, or sausage and make our BBQ Grills a pleasure to use.

If you like BBQ, don’t buy a cheap smoky BBQ sauce from the supermarket again.

You can order this one online at www.hot-headz.com, it comes in a large 510g bottle, so there will be plenty to go around and at only £3.99 it is well worth it.

Flavour
(8.5/10)
Heat
(3/10)
Packaging
(6/10)
Value
(8/10)
Overall
(8/10)

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Jamaican Jerk Paste Recipe

by Hot Juan on June 13, 2010 · 0 comments

in Recipes

There is a unique taste to Jamaican BBQ, and that comes from the Jerk Seasoning. I developed this from a dry powder recipe I found a long time ago, like most recipes they develop over time, I have added some cloves to my version, but you could leave this out if you wanted, there are also a number of optional ingredients you could add dependent on your tastes.

Ingredients:-

  • 2-3 Large Onions (Finely chopped)
  • 5-6 Garlic Cloves (Finely chopped)
  • 3 tsp Scotch Bonnet/Habanero Powder
  • 3 tsp Hot Paprika Powder
  • 2 tsp Thyme (Ground)
  • 1 tsp Nutmeg (Ground)
  • ¼ tsp Cloves (Ground)
  • 1 tsp Cinnamon (Ground)
  • 1 tsp Black Pepper (Ground)
  • 1 Lime (Juice and a little grated rind)
  • Olive oil as required

Optional Ingredients:- 1tsp Salt, 1tsp Allspice, 1 tsp Sugar, 1 tsp Ginger (Minced)

Add all the ingredients into a blender, except for the Olive Oil which only needs to be added if the mixture is a little dry. Blend to a rough mixture. This can be stored in the fridge for a few weeks if required, but is best used after a few Days (Gives it time for the flavours to combine).

If you like it hotter add more chilli, feel free to play with the recipe; I did till I found what I liked!

This is excellent added to Chicken just rub the paste into Chicken pieces a few hours before cooking on the BBQ, I roast mine first in the oven and then finish on the BBQ.

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