This is the second entry of homemade hot sauce from Marv L. (aka Fatalliman) and this one we kept here at the HZOB for our own review of it. Marv did himself proud with his first sauce that he had reviewed here, and this one is equally as noteworthy.

(We don’t give number ratings to any of our reviews, as each person’s taste is always subjective.)

Ingredients: chocolate habaneros, tomato puree, white vinegar, balsamic, vinegar, cocoa powder, molasses, garlic & other spices

First impression: One whiff of the habanero lets you know that these habs were only chocolate in color, not in substance. Besides that characteristic habanero aroma, you could definitely pick up the hint of other spices but none which were overwhelming. I preferred to remove the plastic pourer/cap so I could get more out of the bottle, since going one drop at a time wasn’t going to satisfy me after I had tasted the sauce.

Taste: This sauce is quite complex. Linda and I have both tasted this sauce now on several occasions, and its heat seems to vary with the food choice…almost like a doppelganger would blend. One of us would think it was quite hot while the other would remark at its relative mildness for a habanero sauce. The cocoa powder and molasses balances the habanero heat quite nicely, and it gives an overall medium-hot sauce with hints of sweet overtones. We used this on everything from gumbo to pasta dishes to Mexican food, and it complemented them all without adversely affecting the flavor of the food. We really didn’t try it on lighter meats like fish and chicken, but this would probably be a good choice to add to a marinade. If you’re brave, try simply pouring some over the cooked meat as a finishing-type sauce.

Overall recommendation: We liked the sauce quite a bit, and have been seeking out more uses for it. We hadn’t tried too many other chocolate habanero sauces, so we had no basis to compare this one with any others. Its novelty is in how unique it is compared to your prototypical habanero sauce, in which its uses can be limited by its potency and heat. It’s a nice balance of sweet & heat which doesn’t wax too saccharine. A nice change from the run-of-the-mill habanero sauces. Thumbs up!

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