Waitrose – Cooks Ingredients Chilli Sauce
I’m a big Waitrose fan, my wallet can’t always stretch to doing my shopping in its fair aisles, but I like to treat myself on the odd occasion. One of its strengths is its hot sauce selection, often having more on its shelves than some of the other bigger supermarkets, I think that’s why I am a little confused by this sauce.
Without reading or thinking I tucked into the sauce, it tasted mighty vinegary so I checked the bottle to see if I was doing something wrong. Turns out I was, tip: always read the label! This is what Waitrose call a ‘Cooks Ingredient’. I’ve never understood this bit of Waitrose-Marketing genius, not too sure what they mean, what separates a ‘Cooks Ingredient’ from a normal one? From what I can work out this sauce lies in a grey area somewhere between a condiment a la Tabasco or Ketchup and a cooking sauce like Dolmio of Chicken Tonight. It IS meant to be used in your cooking BUT not exclusively, just adding to what is already there, I think… Anyway, once I’d got over its identity crisis I was finally able to actually enjoy the sauce, using it to add heat and tang to a few of my meals. Its not particularly distinctive but I guess that’s a plus point if you want to use it in your cooking, you don’t want some know-it-all at your dinner party ruining it by saying ‘ah yes – Waitrose finest…’ It has a similar heat to Tabasco but far more vinegar, probably best used in a dish if it needed to be more acidic.
Ingredients: Water, Vinegar, Red Chillies, Garlic, Salt, Dried Onion, Paprika, Corn Starch, Mustard Flour, Dried Red Chillies, pepper, stabilizers, xanthan gum, guar gum
Sadly for the sauce, and me, I don’t think I’ll be buying it again. If I want to add heat to my cooking I’ll add chillies or chilli powder and if a dish needs vinegar I can easily add some. There’s no place for this sauce in my own home cooking but that is not to say others might have use for it, I could see this getting used by some as a shortcut to a good stir-fry or shepherds pie.
| Flavour |   (5/10) |
| Heat | (5/10) |
| Packaging | (5/10) |
| Value | (6/10) |
| Overall | (5/10) |
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