The ChileFoundry » FFUK

Sinful Sauces – 2 Days at the Brighton Chill Festival

Guest Writer — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 08:38:52 +0000

After what seemed like a nano second of sleep, our alarm sounded at an un-godly 5am, signalling that it was time to get ourselves down to Brighton for the final UK Chilli festival of the season.

This was our first time at the Brighton event so we didn’t know what to expect, however knowing the guys at Chilli Pepper Pete and their great reputation within the industry, we were expecting a great weekend to unfold.

McDonalds

We indulged in our traditional pre-festival McDonalds breakfast and after 2 hours of uneventful motorway driving, we finally arrived at Victoria Gardens, the home of the Brighton Chilli Festival.

After a quick check-in with the very helpful and friendly event staff, we were soon setting up our pitch inside the large marquee. Our pitch was just inside the end of the marquee and we were pleased to be next to our good friend Tim from the Cambridge Chilli Farm. Out of the 6 events we’ve attended over the summer, we’ve had Tim as our neighbour for 5 of them, so it’s fair to say we’ve gotten to know each other quite well!

Tim @ Cambridge Chilli Farm

As this has been our very first year as traders on the chilli circuit and we’d pretty much thrown ourselves in the deep end in terms of the events we’ve attended, it has taken us the whole summer to learn just what to pack, how much stock to bring and how to set up in a timely fashion! We’re pleased to say that we FINALLY got our set up routine nailed in time for Brighton! This meant that we had out stall set up in plenty of time and for once, we were pretty chilled out by the time the customers came through the gates. Result!

The morning was pretty steady in terms of people but it really picked from about 1pm onwards, as the rest of Brighton seemed to have woken up and came in their droves to buy some heat. This was the first time that many of the pubic in Brighton had seen us and we’re delighted to report that our products and brand went down a storm with the locals!

With entertainment from a traditional Mexican Mariachi band, a full stage with many local bands, lots of hot & cold food to choose from and of course a well stocked and reasonably priced bar, it’s fair to say that the party was in full swing by mid-afternoon. The latter half of the day was reserved for the infamous chilli eating contest where a selection of the public go head to head in a battle of bravado, capsaicin tolerance and stupidity! The ‘winner’ received a cash prize for their troubles, much to the amusement of the audience =)

Sinful Sauces - Two National Chilli Awards

Another major feature of the Brighton Chill Festival were the National Chill Awards, where accolades are given to companies and individuals for their achievements, as voted by a panel of judges. We were very surprised and delighted to pick up not one, but two awards at the event! We won the award for ‘Best Newcomer’ and also for ‘Best Label’, which was particularly poignant because the artist, Paul Garner, who designed our ‘chilli devil’ character on our 7 Deadly Sins sauce labels is a local from Brighton. To top it off, Paul had come to the festival to see us and was able to share the award with us on the day, making it very special for us all.

With the event winding down for the day, we met up with Rose from Chilli Pepper Pete who took us to see their new shop in the North Laines area. It was great to finally see the shop in the flesh and it was very impressive site to see every wall quite literally covered with chilli products!

We then marched across the street to The Lord Nelson pub where a function room in the back had been reserved for the Chilli Pepper Pete festival traders! Suffice to say, the next few hours were spent indulging in beer and various chilli stories and with such luminaries as Ivor from The Devils Garden, Niall from Mr. Vikkis, Simon the ChilliJamMan, Tim from Cambridge Chilli Farm, Darth Naga & Mrs Naga, Jamie from Wiltshire Chilli Farm, Eat More Heat and of course the team from Chilli Pepper Pete, the night was a fitting end to a very successful and enjoyable day.

Day 2:

With a sluggish start and many booze related stall-holder casualties on site, the day began.

Sunday was pretty much a repeat performance of Saturday in terms of how the festival unfolded however, there seemed to be more families in attendance. The weather was a little hit and miss with occasional downpours however, this didn’t deter the great British public from coming out and having fun. Let’s face it, we wouldn’t do much in the UK if we let the weather get in the way!

Bims Kitchen

Another day of brisk trade ensued with our neighbours Cambridge Chilli Farm,Lily’s Chillies and Bim’s Kitchen all looking really busy throughout the afternoon. As the day wound down we managed to treat ourselves to a delicious (and we mean delicious) ice cream from Purbeck’s before getting ready to pack down and ready ourselves for the journey home.

Overall, we had a fantastic weekend in Brighton and it was a thoroughly enjoyable event that we have no hesitation in recommending to anyone. Event if you’re not a fan of chilli and spice, it’s definitely worth a visit for the warm and friendly atmosphere that the festival provides.

We were a little saddened with this being the last chilli festival of the season but we’ve had a fantastic summer overall and have met some amazing people, having made some great new friends along the way. Now that we have some experience under our belts, we can’t wait to get stuck into the 2012 chilli season and look forward to catching up with our friends and hopefully making some new ones too!

Many thanks to everyone we’ve met this year and a special thanks to Rose & Shane for the kind hospitality and also to Tim for the continual advice and help along the way.

We hope to see you soon!

Paul & Kelly

[Show as slideshow]

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FFUK Chilli Festival 17/18th Sept 2011 – Brighton

Hot Juan — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 12:39:51 +0000

September 17, 2011

September 18, 2011

The highly successful FFUK Chilli Festival is being held in Victoria Gardens in Brighton on the 17/18th September 2011.

The event is famous for it amazing Chilli Eating Competition and the National Chilli Awards.

FFUK Chilli Eating Competition

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The Chilli Pepper Company – 10 Minute Burn Review

Darth Naga — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 09:47:50 +0000

The Chilli Pepper Company - 10 Minute Burn

Okay where to start? This is my first video review since the new year started and OMFG I could’nt have started it with a bigger bang if i’d have tried! This sauce today comes from our good friends at the “Chilli pepper company” and I have to say this is EASILY the hottest sauce they sell and its a f*****g corker!! Ged developed this sauce to compete in the ever growing “Ultra-death-killya-stupidly-over-the-fookin-top” hotsauce category and I have to say it holds its own rather well, but enough of this, lets crack on eh?

Ingredients: Fresh naga bhut jolokia, pineapple juice, vinegar, lemon juice, tomatoes, mango, molasses, 7.3 million chilli extract, celery, herbs, spices.

There ya go, thats it, no additives or anything, 100% natural ( I count extract as a natural substance, some don’t) in fact its the Naga’s and extract that give “10 Minute Burn” its supernatural heat level, but more on that in a moment.This sauce is the one that we wrote an article about here: http://www.chilefoundry.co.uk/?p=3215 It was banned from the september 09 FFUK show for being “too hot” and as the interview shows people passed out and had reactions to it, thus it was BANNED!!

And now, of all people I get given a bottle of this to do a review of, i’m scared to say the least, but I like to think that i’m crazy and stupid enough to take on ANYTHING in the Hotsauce world, so without any more ditractions here it is!

This sauce comes in a lovely little square glass bottle that to me is very ornamental, it has a simple label on it that is adorned with flames and skulls (that look like they are screaming incidentally!) The sauce inside is a swirl of light red and dark red faint lines with seeds suspended in the sauce here and there, there are also 2 clear warnings on the rear, one says “Once eaten this will really hurt” and the other says “use to add heat to your cooking, do not ingest directly” but as the following video shows, I paid NO ATTENTION to these warnings, HA!

Soooooooooooooooo as you can see..i pretty much died right there! The sauce, as I tried my best to point out, has a lovely sweet fruity flavour for a few seconds, and thats what took me by surprise! After smelling the sauce and smelling only Naga peppers and extract I was sure this would only taste of extract and that the heat would blow me away instantly but it did’nt…the heat was masked amazingly by the fruit present in the sauce, the initial sweet taste made me let my guard down and then the pain crawled out from under my tongue and OWOWOWOWOW it hit me hard!!

I’m not over exaggerating when I tell you it was like being punched in the mouth by Satan himself, my lips swelled a little and I started sweating immediately, it was a sharp stinging, burning sensation coupled with the uncontrollable hiccups and my eyes streaming as if I had just been kicked in the plums!!

So there you have it, the Infamous and Notorious “10 minute burn” officially reviewed by yours truly, if you like INSANE amounts of heat in pretty much anything then I recommend you give this bottle of life altering sauce a go, the endorhin rush is well worth the burn, I promise you that much! “10 minute burn” is available from www.chileseeds.co.uk at a wallet pleasing £7.00 for 100ml, but for those of you thinking that 100ml for 7 quid is’nt alot, trust me it will last a while, unless of course you’re a headcase and put it on everything you eat!! Grab a bottle while its hot people, because at that price i’m not sure Ged will have it in stock for long, and after the chilli festivals hit, and this sauce rockets in popularity its gonna become rare!!! SO GRAB IT NOW!!!

Until next time my chilefanz, hope you had a great new year, and as always may the sauce be with you!!!

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Fiery Foods UK Brighton – April 3/4/5 2010

Hot Juan — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:21:02 +0000

The dates have been announced for the Easter weekend Fiery Foods Festival, The event will be in the Hove Gardens on the 3/4/5 April 2010.

More news later and a list of exhibitors as soon as we have it.

Scan directly to your calendar

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Chilefoundry Newsletter November 2009

Hot Juan — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:16:42 +0000

A summary of articles from the Chile foundry during November 2009, click the links to see the full stories.

Lizzi’s Chilli and Apricot Blondies – My Daughter Lizzi is a very good cook, she has a light hand with baking, I asked her to come up with a recipe for today, she said “I will make you something special!” and she did!

Eswatini Swazi Kitchen - kumquat Atchar

Eswatini Swazi Kitchen – Kumquat Atchar – The product I am reviewing today comes from a company known as “Just trading Scotland” who sell fair trade products here in the uk on behalf of people from Africa, asia and latin america, one of the groups that they represent is known as “Eswatini Swazi Kitchen” and its that particular group that have made the product I am reviewing today.

What is Atchar? – Atchar is a spicey chutney found in Indian and South African food, It is often made from mangoes and peppers, but can also include vegetables such as Carrots, onions and cabbage. It is served as a condiment with curry.

Dr. Burnorium’s Hot Sauce Emporium – Dr. Burnorium’s Hot Sauce Emporium is a retailer based at the St Nicholas Market in Bristol, they have an excellent online store. If you are near Bristol visit them and let us know what you think?

Manda African Chilli Sauce – Review – Wow! another sauce that contains all natural ingredients, I seem to be getting alot of these lately, not that i’m complaining mind you, nothing better than an all natural fresh tasting hotsauce! “Manda African Chilli Sauce (extra hot)” comes in a bottle that is more similar to non-mainstream hotsauce’s than the supermarket brands it shares a shelf with in ASDA.

The Hot Pepper Awards

ChilliPepperPete – The Hot Pepper Awards 2009 – ChilliPepperPete has been winning awards again. This time at “The Hot Pepper Awards 2009″ they won both 2nd and 3rd place in the Extreme Products section for Dragons Blood Batch 12 and Satan’s Shit.

Lingham’s Ginger Garlic Chilli Sauce – It is odd but this is the first time I have tasted a Lingham’s sauce, I have seen them about for years, but always passed them by, expecting it to a cheap, sweet concoction, with little depth of flavour, maybe I have become a sauce snob!

ChilliPepperPete’s – Chicken Xacuti (Shakuti) – This recipe comes from ChilliPepperPete, it is a traditional Goan Recipe. Goa is located along India’s west coast along the Arabian Sea and was part of Pete’s travels around India. Chicken Xacuti (pronounced Shakuti) has been described and Chicken in coconut gravy.

Blairs's Death Rain Crisps

Blair’s Death Rain – New UK Flavours – I love crisps (US Translation Chips) a few years ago we make our own Hot-Juan Brand Crisps so I know how hard it is to make a new flavour and to get it consistant, I have always loved Blair’s Death Rain Habanero crisp, every packet is hot and crunchy, and his other flavours Chipotle and Cajun are also excellent, each with there own unique flavour.

Christmas Rumours – Santa’s Shit – We hear rumours that ChilliPepperPete is making a Christmas special – Santa’s Shit, we will let you know more as soon as we taste it!

ChilliPepperPete’s – Vindalho Recipe – One of my favourites has always been the Vindalho. And then I had it in Goa 20 odd years ago cooked by our landlady and it was a totally different experience. I got her to write down her recipe and I am copying it from a tatty Indian school book full of recipes. I will move on to other countries from now but as I said earlier I have had a Goan food fixation for 20 years. We are now selling Goan curry blends in the shop that are made in Goa and are excellent. – “Pete Seymour AKA ChilliPepperPete”

Chilli Variety - Krakatoa F1

Chilli Variety??–??Krakatoa F1 – A medium sized upright plant of the Capsicum annuum Species.

Lowcost Home Smoked Chillies – Using the ProQ Smoke Generator – Hot smoke or cold smoke, that is the question. The simple answer is that both have a place in the food chain, but when it comes to chillies, my hat is definitely in the cold camp.

Christmas Hamper – The Chilli Pepper Company – The Chilli Pepper Company has launched a range of Christmas gift hampers, with something for everybody.

Pain is good – Batch #114 Jamaican Pineapple Salsa – I did not expect to like this salsa, I don’t normally go for anything with pineapple in it, I even pick it off pizza if I have to, but this was an exception, I even enjoyed finding the tidbits of pineapple.

Hot-Headz – Mad Dog college challenge – A First Aid co-ordinator from the Samuel Whitbread Community College, Beds. telephoned Hot-Headz! on Wednesday (11/11/09) to seek assurance that pupils would be OK after a student took a bottle of Mad Dog 357 Collector’s Edition to college and challenged his peers to try some.

Volcano Chilli – Lincoln Central Market – Volcano Chilli is a new venture for Chris and Rosie Jagger and he has started it in Lincoln’s Central Market just a few weeks ago.

Scorch

South Devon Chilli Farm New Online Community, Forum and Blog – The South Devon Chilli Farm has been redeveloping its web site and has added a new Community, Forum and a Blog .

The Chilli Pepper Company – Witches Brew Review – The bottle itself is typical of the CPC range and comes with a high gloss label on the front, complete with title and a strange grey looking witch stirring a cauldron! I do enjoy seeing Ged’s new labels when they come out as they are always fun to see, the sauce inside this bottle is a lovely red colour with flecks of black, bits of pepper flesh and the occasional seed floating about in the liquid!

ChilliPepperPete’s?—?Mole Poblano – Mole Poblano is a festive meal hailing from Oaxaca in Mexico. Oaxacan food is the consistently the best quisine in Mexico. Mexicans use a lot of mild chillis up to the jalapeno/chipotle heat but outside of the yucatan its unusual to find anything hotter. The chillis are used for flavour as well as heat and this recipe could be many hundreds of years old and in one form or another has come down from pre conquistdador times. Its very involved but can be cheated with our ready potted mole poblano which is a simplified version of this recipe. Its a great leftover turkey recipe for boxing day. – “Pete Seymour AKA ChilliPepperPete”

Cocaine and Capsaicin – a lethal mix? – A report in the New Scientist reports that Scientists may have found a link between some deaths from Pepper Sprays and Cocaine addiction.

South Devon Chilli Farm – Mild Habanero Chilli Chutney – On opening the jar there is a very pleasant fruity smell, which is not let down by the flavours from the apples and sultanas, I am very pleased to see the use of cider vinegar in this kind of high quality, it lets the flavours develop, without it needing to be matured.

Cajohns Gourmet – Scorch Review – The sauce comes from “Cajohns Gourmet” and as you might remember I reviewed their “Vicious viper” back in june and was’nt impressed mainly because the product had ALOT of heat but a not so nice flavour to it, so due to this I am a little apprehensive of this current sauce, but nonetheless lets continue!

South Devon Chilli Farm – Rapeseed Chilli Oil – The South Devon Chilli Farm has been working with The Seed Co, they have taken there cold pressed Rapeseed oil and steeped it with a blend of hot and fruity dried chilles for a month or two.

Chilli Variety???–???Yellow Bhut Jolokia – Most of our readers will already know the Bhut Jolokia is the current Guinness Book of World Records record holder as the world hottest chilli with a Scoville heat rating of 1,001,304 SHU’s, but not many will have heard of the Yellow Bhut Jolokia.

The Cornish Chilli Company – Manufacturers of Chilli Sauces using as many local ingredients as possible, they have an interesting range of products including an unusual dessert sauce.

Nitro Naga?—?Naga Jolokia Chilli Jam

Nitro Naga – Naga Jolokia Chilli Jam Review – This jam comes form the one and only “Chillichutneyman” a lovely gentleman by the name of Bryn, and someone i have chatted with a few times before, the “Nitro Naga” range being one he makes for Karl and co at www.scorchio.co.uk, and as such this jam is’nt like any other, it contains my FAVOURITE chilli which also happens to be the hottest chilli in the world to date, so without any more jabbering on, lets begin!

Hot-Headz Goes Christmas Crackers! – Order over £30.00 worth of products before December 20th 2009 and receive a superb quality Hot Sauce Gift Pack worth £12.99 absolutely Free!

Chilli Variety????–????Chocolate Bhut Jolokia – The Chocolate Bhut Jolokia is a variant of the Bhut Jolokia, Frontal Agritech have selected the chocolate bhut in successive generations to give a pure variety. The chilli has a pungency level similar to the red Bhut Jolokia.

Ol' Clooties Sauce

The Chilli Garden – Ol’ Clooties Sauce Review – There are not many sauces that look this colour, with the light behind it, it is almost luminescent orange, this is not achieved with artificial colours but is all natural made with Scotch Bonnet and Caribbean Red Habanero’s chillies grown by The Chilli garden in Hampshire.

Bargin time save £1.96 on Cajohns Vicious Viper – We have just noticed that Hot-Headz has a special offer on Vicious Viper, a sauce that Darth Naga reviewed back in early July. The sauce is normally £6.95, but is on offer at only £4.99 saving £1.96 per bottle.

Top 10 UK Chilli Web Sites — November 2009 (New #1 Site) – We have a new Number 1 site. Scorchio who have been buring up our chart are now the number 1 chilli web site in the UK, knocking Chillis Galore from the top spot for the first time.

Mr Vikki Hot Coriander Sauce Review – Ahh i’ve just had a long weekend off and now its tuesday and back to work, the sauce i’m reviewing today comes from a new favourite sauce maker here at the Chilefoundry, a little northern chap by the name of Adam Marks, I am of course talking about “Mr Vikki” and the amazing sauces, chutneys and pickles he produces.

School Chilli Challenage for Children In Need – Todmorden School held a seven-a-side chilli eating contest, seven members of staff and seven six formers muched chilles to see who could eat the most. The Final winner was teacher Mike Smith who ate 11 chillies.

TABASCO® brand Habanero Sauce – The aroma from the bottle is one more of fresh fruits, namely mango as opposed to habanero, the smell is deceiving though and you’ll realise that the moment you try this one, the McIlhenny’s mean business.

UK Chilli Market On Twitter – Apart from us who else should you be following on twitter..

Hot Headz & Scorchio Top 10 Products – November 2009 – Each month we look at the best selling products from some of the UK largest retailers, this gives us and you an idea of what is selling well (So what we need to review)

Creamy Chicken Curry (Milk and Dairy free) – My wife is lactose intolerant and therefore has a problem with many Indian menu’s as they use ghee and yoghurt in a lot of their recipes. So I created this recipe to create a creamy mild curry we can both enjoy.

Free P&P for your Christmas orders from ChilliPepperPete – Orders place on-line between the 1st and the 15th of December will get free P&P from ChilliPepperPete as part of there Christmas promotions

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Manda African Chilli Sauce – Review

Darth Naga — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:08:40 +0000

Manda African Chilli Sauce

Another day, another product review by yours truly, and what a great way to spend a tuesday evening than sampling a hot sauce and putting my opinion across about it. The sauce I have today comes from a company known as “Manda Foods limited” and I was lucky enough to meet them at the FFUK festival earlier this year, a couple of lovely people who were very happy to give me a bottle for review purposes and were constantly happy and smiling it seemed, and they had good reason to! The company itself was started back in 2004 by Royda Manda with a sauce made from traditional Zambian chillies, herbs and spices, originally it was developed and produced by Royda in her home kitchen and traded as a cottage industrial product, supplying the local retail companies, in 2006 Royda made a breakthrough and her product was soon stocked at ASDA stores in the UK and is to this day one of the top selling ethnic chilli sauces on ASDA shelves!

Ingredients: Scotch bonnet and Habanero peppers (50%), Tomatoes, Onions, Salt, Parsley, Zambian mixed spices, Spirit vinegar, Olive oil, Lime juice.

Wow! another sauce that contains all natural ingredients, I seem to be getting alot of these lately, not that i’m complaining mind you, nothing better than an all natural fresh tasting hotsauce! “Manda African Chilli Sauce (extra hot)” comes in a bottle that is more similar to non-mainstream hotsauce’s than the supermarket brands it shares a shelf with in ASDA.

The lable on said bottle is quite literally a feast for the eyes, the Manda logo itself is black on a bright orange background with a picture of Africa and some fruit behind it, the label also has a very traditional looking edging to it, making it look very ethnic indeed and thus keeping true to its roots!

The sauce itself has a similar orangey-red colour to alot of habanero/scotch bonnet based sauces, albeit this one has a nice amount of seeds and flesh suspended in the sauce itself thus giving it a very marbled effect. The texture is that of a nice chunky sauce that is thick, but pourable and as everyone knows by now, I LOVE a sauce that is pourable but not runny, so this sauce fits the bill perfectly on looks and texture, lets have a whiff eh?

I opened the bottle and took a hearty sniff of its contents, the beautiful smell of fresh scotch bonnets and habanero’s filled my nose as I assumed it would, there was a hint of vinegar in there as well but it certainly did’nt overpower the pepper smell, which was a refreshing change from other vinegary hot products.

I decided to jump in feet first and took out my tasting spoon, pouring this lovely gloopy mixture onto my spoon and placing it into my mouth, holding it there to fully appreciate the flavour and heat and WOW was I pleasantly surprised! The flavour is (in my honest opinion) completely unmatched in the supermarket today, this has a wonderful mix of both bonnets and habs and the flavour from both is intense, I was expecting the same sort of vinegary taste you get with most supermarket hotsauces but boy was I wrong!! The vinegar was undetectable among the other flavours the sauce held, but the heat..now THAT was detectable, this is easily the hottest natural hotsauce available in ASDA today, in fact the only product on the supermarket shelves that is remotely similar to this is Encona hotsauce but even that is overshadowed by this in terms of both flavour and heat!!

If you want to pick up a bottle of this (which I strongly suggest you do!) then you can obviously pick it up at your local ASDA store, its also available to buy online from www.mandafoods.co.uk at the paltry price of £2.70 a bottle, that includes postage btw, the sauce is actually only £1.20, which i’m sure you’ll all agree is a bargain! If you don’t pick up a bottle of this from Royda herself (www.mandafoods.co.uk) or ASDA then you will surely be missing out on one of the finest African hotsauces thats readily available in supermarkets today!

Till next time padawanz, may the sauce be with you, always!!

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Eswatini Swazi Kitchen – Kumquat Atchar

Darth Naga — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:43:25 +0000

Fiery Foods UK National Chilli awards winner – “Best Import Product“

Eswatini Swazi Kitchen - kumquat Atchar

Its a monday night, work is all done for another day and i’m doing my best to relax..and what better way to relax than with a nice review of something hot and spicy, best thing for these cold nights if you ask me!

The product I am reviewing today comes from a company known as “Just trading Scotland” who sell fair trade products here in the uk on behalf of people from Africa, asia and latin america, one of the groups that they represent is known as “Eswatini Swazi Kitchen” and its that particular group that have made the product I am reviewing today.

Eswatini was set up in 1991 by a catholic priest , Father Larry McDonnell and an Anglican Nun Sister Judith Dean O.B.E. to create jobs in Swaziland for certain communities and to generate funds for “Manzini Youth Care” a non-government organization caring for children affected by HIV and AIDS. Eswatini has grown considerably over the years and currently exports its quality products to 14 different international destinations including the US and UK.

It is also worth noting that the product i have here has also won a National Chilli award at the Fiery Foods UK festival, it won first place in the “Best import product” category!

Ingredients: Kumquat fruit (65%), Sunflower oil, Vinegar, Spices, Chillies, Salt and Garlic.

Okay, as you can see from the list of ingredients this is a very simple and straightforward product, there is no preservatives or additives so its 100% natural, the jar itself is a simple one with a white lid and the label is a beige sort of colour, with red and green writing on that stands out quite well, giving the product a very unique and homemade look as opposed to the usual mas market uber colourful approach!

The pickle (?) inside has a gorgeous orange hue to it, with flecks of red and brown throughout, sunflower oil being high on the list of ingredients my first thoughts were that this would be a little greasy, you have to imagine that its been a couple of months since the FFUK festival so i could’nt remember how this tasted, all i knew was that it won an award for good reason and I was about to relive that reason!

I twisted off the lid and held it up to my nose, allowing my olfactory senses to do the driving for a brief moment, a very fruity and uplifting smell entered my nostrils, not dissimilar to lime pickle but with something different in there..obviously this being a review i decided to allow my tastebuds to get their own opinion on this intriguing paste. I dipped in my tasting spoon and took out a nice heaped amount, placing it between my lips I let it sit on my tongue before moving it around inside my mouth to be able to fully appreciate and perhaps decipher the ingredients.

A wonderful fruity, spicy flavour was making its way around my senses, the kumquat was immediately obvious as was the chilli, I was pleasently surprised by the non-greasy texture of the product too, the kumquat created an altogether different sensation to anything else I had tasted and I certainly would’nt have ever thought that kumquats and chillies go together so well. The heat was mild but warming and complimented the fruity zing of the main ingredient, the garlic was more of a savoury afterthought but one that worked well as a parting gift to your mouth!

Just Trading Scotland

I remembered fondly then how we came about giving this particular pickle the award, I smiled and had another spoonful while I tried to find a price for this item, ALAS!! i could not find one at all..in fact the only way I could find an indication of where to purchase this product was to head over to http://www.justtradingscotland.co.uk/pages/Retailers and look down the list their, they also have the retailers on a handy map of britain, so i’m sure you’re bound to find someone near to you that sells the “Eswatini” range!

This sort of thing would go well with white meat i feel, things like pork and chicken would take full advantage of the flavours on offer, as would most vegetables tbh..and I think it would go VERY well with my personal favourite, CHEESE!!

Get thee to your nearest purveyour of fair trade products as listed on their site and grab a jar of this before they sell out, as i can guarentee with this sort of flavour, as soon as people start to notice it, it will sell fast!! Until next time chileheadz, may the sauce be with you!!!

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Gaby’s Hot Stuff – FFUK09 Best Hot Sauce

Darth Naga — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:01:34 +0000

Fiery Foods National chilli awards winner - Best Hot Sauce

I’m sat here on a cold October night, looking at what could possibly be the most beautiful and elaborate bottle of hot sauce I have ever seen, the sauce comes from a company run by a hot blooded woman from Panama! Gaby used to love seeing all the chilli’s growing in the local gardens in the countryside of Panama and she was often given some to try, she loved the fruity aromas and flavours given off by the chilli, it was then she realised that she was indeed a chilehead, and set about making her own hot sauce!

Gaby's Hot Stuff

Fast forward a few years to roughly one year ago, Gaby decided to open a company to promote and sell the sauce she enjoyed making so much, “Gaby’s Hot Stuff” was born and so the story began..

Ingredients: Onion, Garlic, Coriander, Celery, Habanero peppers, Mustard, Vinegar, Salt, Lime, Chilli extract.

This isn’t the first time I have come across this amazing hot sauce, I first met Gaby and co. at the “Fiery foods UK Festival” in Brighton earlier this year, where “Gaby’s Hot Stuff” won the “Best Hot Sauce” award from the panel of 3 judges which included myself! After the awards ceremony I was asked to pose with Gaby for a couple of photo’s and then I was presented with a bottle of the original sauce as a gift, there and then I knew I had to review it!

So here it is, “Gaby’s Hot Stuff” a sauce that has to be seen to be truly believed and appreciated, the bottle alone is a pure work of art, a black glass bottle with the red and black “Hot Stuff” label on it, with a simple red and black ingredients label adorning the back. The whole neck and shoulders of the bottle is coated with melted red wax that is hand-crafted by Gaby herself and then finished off with a simple cork in the top giving it an almost red wine look, a lot of love goes into these bottles people!!

The sauce inside obviously can’t be seen due to the nature of the bottle, but let me tell you, its a myriad of colours, yellow mostly with fresh looking red and green flecks throughout, no doubt from the habanero’s and coriander respectively, the texture is that of a nice semi chunky liquid, beautiful chunks of celery,onion and habenero pepper give this such a nice texture, one that’s definitely not runny, and one that will add something completely different to your next meal!

I popped the cork on my bottle of “Original Hot Stuff” and let it stand for a couple of minutes before I scanned the open top with my nose, allowing the scent of the sauce to creep in, immediately I was hit by the unmistakable smell of habanero peppers, coupled with the mix of garlic and coriander, oddly enough I couldn’t smell the extract that was listed on the ingredients so this boded well for me!

I took out my tablespoon (I use a tablespoon for the less insane sauces, to get a better idea of taste!) and poured a generous amount on to it, lifting the spoon to my lips I took one last whiff before placing the contents on my tongue and swirling it a little to fully grasp the flavour.

For a split second I thought my head was going to explode as a complex mix of flavours entered my mouth, the habanero’s were obvious but never before have I tasted coriander used so well in a sauce, it was such a good flavour hit that I had to have another, and as I lifted the spoon into my mouth, that’s when the hiccups hit me! This sauce isn’t stupidly hot, but its hotter than any supermarket sauce you will find, it has a heat kick from the extract but with no extract flavour to be found the heat kick is a perfect compliment to the taste and texture of this outstanding sauce.

It won the “Best hot sauce” award at this years FFUK festival for a bloody good reason, and that reason is that it seems to have an almost unmatched blend of flavour and heat, a sauce that outshone a large number of rivals in the competition and for that reason alone you should be buying this sauce. But if that’s not enough to convince you I can assure you that for £12 you get 375ml of this amazing sauce in a bottle that is clearly centrepiece material, and if you compare that price to what you pay for half the amount of sauce, I think you’ll have to agree this is worth its weight indeed! And if that wasn’t convincing enough, Gaby has even started doing her award winning sauce in wallet friendly 200ml square jars at a mere £3.50 a jar…now if that isn’t a good value hot sauce then I honestly don’t know what is!

You can catch Gaby and co. at old Spitalfields market every Sunday, or if you can’t quite make it there then you can always purchase a bottle from www.gabyshotstuff.co.uk or www.funkypepper.co.uk (£15.99 a bottle from FP).

For the love of all things hot, go grab a bottle now before someone you know buys one first and then brags about how good it is!! hehe..as always i will see you again soon chilefanz, may the sauce be with you!!