I can safely say that I have never tried a rocoto hot sauce before. Yeah, I’ve tried to grow rocotos myself, but without a whole lot of success. Rocotos are a South American pepper that grows natively on the slopes of the Andes mountain range and is a member of Capsicum pubescens. Pubescens are called as such because the peppers have a little “peach fuzz” to them. Thick-walled peppers with black seeds that are mildly resistant to frost make this a unique pepper to be sure.

Yes, but does unique mean that they can make good hot sauce? I’m guessing that the chances are good, especially since these chiles have been around for 5000 years or so. That’s a pretty long time to go by without someone making a sauce out of these babies. For the time being, the mystery of whether that can be done has been solved by the folks at Rancho Bravo. Rancho Bravo has their main farm and production over in Peru, but distributes a line of salsa, vegetables, and a hot sauce here in the United States. Christopher Underwood of Rancho Bravo was kind enough to send us some samples, so I gravitated to the hot sauce first to have the chance to see what a rocoto hot sauce was really like. The ingredients are simple enough:

Ingredients: Fire-roasted rocoto peppers, garlic, vinegar, selected spices

It’s almost a South American version of a Louisiana-style sauce with mostly vinegar and peppers, with some extra spices mixed in for good measure. I kinda liked the bottle, save for the fact they put that silly flow-restrictor cap on it. I chucked that in the trash right away, since I want no impedance to my hot sauce pouring for my food. The label has a bit of a retro look to it (even if I managed to get some sauce all over mine) and doesn’t really grab your attention compared to some others, but it’s functional enough as well.

As expected, it’s a pretty thin sauce…roughly the consistency of Ragu pasta sauce. The aroma is mostly garlic and peppers, but it’s a pepper aroma I’m not accustomed to smelling, and that has to be the rocoto. First lesson in how not all peppers are created equal, even by smell alone.

Taste: The first taste is very strong on garlic and vinegar, but what follows is a distinctly capsicum flavoring that has no shortage on heat. Most information on rocotos rank the heat from 50k-250k Scovilles, but this one taste at about the same sorta heat level as a cayenne sauce, so I’ll arbitrarily put it at a 7/10 on my personal heat scale. While tasty-good, it has an almost “soapy” flavor to it. Passow was here and tried this sauce with me, and he agreed with that assessment. The flavor is not off-putting my any stretch, but you’d almost have to try it for yourself to get how the mouth-feel is with this pepper sauce. Despite being thin on ingredients, it’s a very full-flavored sauce and the pepper flavor takes over for some of the vinegary bite as you eat more of it.

As for its usage, your mileage with it might vary depending on your heat tolerance. I could easily pour it out as a condiment or as an addition to Tex-Mex and traditional Mexican fare such as tacos, burritos, and tamales. The flavor is also durable enough to mix well into foods, and it was a fantastic addition to marinara and other tomato-based sauces. I’ve been using it in fairly heavy rotation for the past week and like how it seamlessly pairs with most of my food choices.

Overall recommendation: While not being the most gourmet hot sauce you’ll find, it’s definitely worth trying for the novelty of the pepper that’s used to make it. Don’t waste time trying to turn your meager supply of home-grown rocotos into sauce…let Rancho Bravo’s version of it work wonders for your food. Garlicky and with enough heat to at least tingle the palates of most chileheads, it’s great mixed in your chili con carne, sprinkled over some tacos, or even as an uber-spicy steak sauce. The key is not how you use but just that you give it a try for yourself. If Rancho Bravo’s salsas are half as good as this sauce, I’ll have a lot more to write about. Enjoy!