In what we hope will become an ongoing column here at the HZOB, we decided to go ahead and offer some homage to those amateur hot sauce makers who whip up batches of hot sauce goodness each year. Our first review goes to Tim O. (aka Iron Chef), one of Joe’s cyberbuddies and fellow Tequila aficionado from the Mumpsimus forum, who sent us a bottle of hot sauce of his own creation. Here’s an image of what we received:

Batch 1 - “100% Scotch Bonnet” Scotch Bonnet Peppers, Pinneapple and passion fruit nectar, 2 cups of Pyrate XO rum, scallions, garlic, fresh ground pepper, dash of shag bark syrup and a dash of kosher salt.

Our celebrity reviewer, CaJohn, had this to say about Tim’s sauce:

When I opened the bottle and got the first whiff of this sauce I got my usual impressions of a fruit based sauce, seafood and white meat. First taste, and the pineapple was the first flavor detected, confirming my first application for this sauce. I tried it as a marinade for a couple of shrimp, which were then grilled, not too hot of a fire as I felt the sauce would char. Excellent! Tried a little Tempura style batter with the sauce and coconut, fried them, excellent plus. Used the sauce directly (condiment style) on some roast pork, excellent. Going for a different use, I brought out my old fresh fruit salsa recipe and used this sauce to bind the diced papaya, mango, fresh pineapple, strawberries, tangerines, scallions and jalapenos, tossed in a few slivered almonds and coconut, awesome. The fruity base was a good choice for scotch bonnets, I think it could stand a little more of the chiles though, over time the sugars (fruit, rum, syrup) seem to meld with those of the chiles, and the result is a masking of the heat (one of the tricks we sauce makers use to hold back heat). I was pleased with every use I put this sauce too, even the slurp I had from the back of my hand. Good Job!

Do you make your own hot sauce? If so, send us a bottle and we’ll make sure you get some righteous props on your creation!

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