I would expect 70% pepper at most from a non-fermented version of today’s product, which may not sound like a big difference but is, upon closer inspection, double the non-chilli ingredients. Without that, it would require an absolute minimum of 20% vinegar to keep it from going off and you’d have to make room for the garlic as well. This sauce is a whopping 86% cayenne and it can only be so because of the acid that fermentation produces. The Mean Green doesn’t just use an unusual pepper, it uses a tonne of it. Instead, the lactic acid produced fills the same role as vinegar, meaning that Smoke Hall Foods (makers of The General’s Hot Sauce) can get away with a far higher chilli content and still keep their product acidic enough to survive.įermentation, itself, subtly alters the taste of a sauce and adding secondary ingredients during the process causes a wonderful melding of flavours but it also brings us to the third selling point: The chilli content. Both are self-limiting, sugar-consuming, natural preservative-generating processes driven by harmless micro-organisms. This particular form of fermentation does not produce alcohol but the lactobacillus bacteria will still be killed off if the acidity gets too high, making the mechanics of it very similar to beer brewing. Which, if you weren’t aware, means that the peppers have been allowed to sit for months on end before cooking, so that the yeast-like lactobacillus can transform what little sugars that they possess into lactic acid. It is also, as I mentioned up above, an aged and fermented sauce. Something that’s sure to provide an unusual flavour.īut there’s more to today’s product than just being a green sauce from an atypical green chilli. So, unless you’re prepared to drop double digits on a(n admittedly stellar-looking) bottle alone, I strongly suggest that you read on to find out what makes this week’s item special.įirst, of course, is that choice of chilli – A popular, medium-heat strain in a colour that’s not commonly eaten. I don’t normally talk about price but this particular product is going for £12.99, after import, from Hot-Headz and, at that price, you’re gonna want to be sure that you’re getting your money’s worth. We’re looking at The General’s Hot Sauce and their Marine Green, complete with a pretty stunning and weighty, grenade-shaped bottle:Ī custom container that I’m sure has sold many a sauce of theirs, state side, but has also upped the costs involved quite substantially. Today, we’re taking that same concept and applying it to a chilli that I’ve never seen used before – Green cayenne.
An item that prided itself on achieving a complexity of flavour with one of the simplest ingredients lists that I’ve ever laid eyes upon.Ī simple, familiar, louisiana-style sauce, properly aged and fermented to get the most out of its peppers. Last week I showed you a hotter, more sophisticated and way more citrusy take on habanero Tabasco.
0 kommentar(er)
