Sinful Sauces Fatalii and Juniper Pickle
Sinful Sauces are one of the great success stories in the UK chilli market during recent years. In less than two years Paul & Kelly (who are based in Northampton) have turned their fledgling venture into a real success story, winning the ‘Best Newcomer’ and ‘Best Label’, 2011 National Chill Awards.
I first met Paul & Kelly at their stand in the West Dean Fiesta 2011 and as well as finding them to be affable and bounding in enthusiasm despite the chaos of the crowds overwhelming their stall, I found their product ranges to have some unique & great tasting combinations. So I was really looking forward to tasting their latest pickle, ‘Fatalii & Juniper’ when they kindly supplied me a jar of it for review.
The label on the jar has the distinctive gothic like Sinful ‘S’ on a glossy black background containing other smaller grey gothic ‘S’s. Simplistic in design but very unique and eye catching.
Ingredients: Fatalii Chillies (80%), Onions, White Wine Vinegar, Rapeseed Oil, Juniper Berries, Black Pepper, Lemon, Lime, Garlic, Spices.
Jar kindly provided by Sinful Sauces
Looking at the ingredients I know I’m in for a “heat treat“ given the percentage of Fatalii chillies used. The Fatalii chilli originates from the central / South Africa region and has a citrus, fruity flavour and a serious kick, with the chilli being rated between 100,000 to 300,000 Scoville units. The other more unusual ingredient listed is juniper berries. I say unusual because although I’ve tasted Juniper berries before I’ve never had them with chillies. Juniper berries are primarily known for being the key flavouring for Gin (Gin being a shortening of the word ‘Genever’ which is Dutch for ‘juniper’) but they are also used in cuisine to make a juniper berry sauce which is used to accompany game meats such as pheasant, rabbit and venison.
Opening the jar and inhaling I first begin to smell the distinctive aroma of the juniper berries along with the citrus tones from the Fatalii’s and hints of lemon. I can also detect the scent of the onion, rapeseed oil and white wine vinegar. In combination all these ingredient give the pickle a light and very fresh scent. Taking a spoonful of the product out of the jar I can see it is mustard yellow in colour. It has a fine texture with the Fatalii flesh and finely chopped onion and pieces of garlic being clearly seen, but I can also see some juniper seeds and flecks of pepper in the body of the pickle.
As I eat the spoonful I clearly taste the flavour of the juniper berries mixed with the citrus flavour of the Fatalii’s. I can also discern the flavours of the rapeseed oil and white wine vinegar which balance well with the citrus tones. Surprisingly the taste of the onion and garlic present comes through more subtly than I expected – the citrus & juniper flavours work really well together here in ensuring that the flavours of the onion and garlic are kept in check and don’t dominate. Overall the result is a very light, clean and fresh tasting pickle. This is something of a wolf in sheep’s clothing however as pretty quickly the heat from the chillies kicks in and the burn begins to envelop my mouth. It’s a nice hot burn and as I eat more of the pickle I can feel my lips beginning to burn and as well my sinus cavities clearing.
The labelling suggests this works really well with game, red meat, chicken, fish & cheese. Unfortunately I don’t have any game meats to hand so I try the pickle “ploughman’s style” with some good cheddar cheese, and I have to say it works fantastically well in combination with it. So much so in fact that I soon realise that with all this tasting I’ve gotten through ¾ of the jar!
At only £3.95 directly from www.sinfulsauces.co.uk this is a pickle that has a very unique, fresh taste and comes with a ‘sinfully’ addictive warning! Definitely one to try.
| Flavour |   (8/10) |
| Heat | (8/10) |
| Packaging | (8/10) |
| Value | (6/10) |
| Overall | (8/10) |
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