There are products that I run across that make me ask “How the heck did I not know about this sooner?” This is one of those. We remember tasting stuff from Sparky & Spike’s last year at the 2007 Jungle Jim’s Weekend of Fire event, but were so overwhelmed with other stuff that we never got back to getting any of it for ourselves. Well, we rectified that oversight by picking up this jar of Hot and Spicy Tangy Pepper Relish by Sparky & Spike’s at this past Cinco D’Ohio Festival here in Columbus.

Ingredients: water, prepared mustard (distilled vinegar, water, mustard seed, salt, turmeric, paprika, spice, natural flavor, garlic powder), distilled vinegar, sugar, brown sugar, red and green bell peppers, red and green jalapeno peppers

For those of you who expect your relish to have pickles in it…well, this one is blissfully free of that. In fact, a little vinegar is the only real comparison you can make to those pickled cucumbers, as this is a true pepper relish. Not only that, but it is completely all-natural and allergen-free. A great addition to your pantry regardless of your food preferences if for that reason alone.

Our relish is all-natural, fat-free, looks great, and is very versatile in the kitchen or on the grill…and oh yeah, it tastes fantastic too! Our relish comes in two flavors, Spicy-with a decent amount of kick, and Hot and Spicy-Which promises to bite you but not leave any marks. Our customers describe the experience as “addictive!”, “It’s delicious on almost anything” and “This stuff should be outlawed, cause I can’t stop eating it!”

First impression: For one thing, you get a big ol’ jar of the stuff. Sixteen ounces to be exact. It only seems like a lot, as it seemed to disappear fairly quickly once it started being used. Very classy, well-designed label with some classic turn-of-the-twentieth century-ish sorta labels with graphics that evoked images of the the Our Gang, or Little Rascals bunch. While the aroma is pretty strong with mustard, I really dug how the jalapenos scented this relish. Very fresh-smelling…almost like you sliced ‘em up yourself. It’s a delightfully thick relish which you’ll need to scoop from the jar.

Taste: A little sweet and a little spicy, all wrapped into one. It has that initial burst of sweetness from the sugars and bell peppers, but followed by a little jalapeno sting in a very balanced taste that’s tempered with the mustard. You can’t escape from a bit of the vinegary tartness, but the overall flavor made it a pretty easy condiment to taste right out of the jar. For heat, it’s not going to overwhelm. Much more a product that features flavor rather than heat, it’s about a 4/10 on my heat scale.

Rather than getting too complicated, we just kept our uses with this stuff pretty simple. As you can see above, hot dogs were our first meal that we tried with this…and boy howdy was this an amazing choice. Slathered over a thick Kosher hot dog, it made that rather pedestrian frank a special meal. Not pictured here, but equally as tasty, was blending it in with some tuna salad. Also delicious, it added some great pepper-laden schwerve to what can be a rather bland sandwich filler. Try it as multi-purpose condiment on just about any sandwich.

Overall recommendation: This is a top-notch spicy pepper relish, made right here in the Buckeye State of Ohio. All-natural, medium-spicy, and incredibly tasty, you would do well to give this relish a try and see what you think. Enjoy!