Tag Archives: blackwattle deli

Product Review: The Other Chef – Smoky Habasco Sauce

11 Feb
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My crippled mitt presenting the sauce. Take note of the chilli coloured strapping! – Commitment.

Towards the end of last week I managed to break my hand, in the mosh-pit, at a punk rock show.

I have come to the conclusion that this injury was directly caused by not eating enough chilli. So to ensure my pussy hand bones don’t break again, I am going to bombard my pathetically fragile body with copious amounts of chilli!

As I can’t lift weights, my aim this week is to produce one product review every day. I apologise to Ed and Paul – who I am house sitting for – in advance for eminent bowl destruction.

It was with this intention that I ventured into my favourite Sydney chilli supplier – The Blackwattle Deli – where I purchased an array of produce, including this sauce.

I love Aussie sauces and I immediately knew this was a local due to its boring label and unimaginative bottle. As with picking up Thai girls in Bangkok, sometime a wonderful surprise can hide beneath a deceptive exterior.

The sauce gets its heat from habanero and red chilli, with these making up 20% and 10% of the volume respectively. Other ingredients include tomato juice, vinegar, paprika. It has a great consistency and smooth mouth feel. The flavour is very smokey and tomatoey. The heat comes on quickly and is a nice back-of-the-throat type heat.

This sauce has been awarded a silver medal a the Sydney Royal Show in 2011. I don’t know what the criteria or categories are, so I don’t trust this award. Instead I’ll give this my own award. I hereby present The Other Chef’s Smoky Habasco Sauce the Golden Anus award for the nicest sauce I have tried so far this week (please note that it is only Monday).

In all seriousness though, this is an exceptional sauce. I would recommend it to anyone who is bored of Tabasco and Cholula. It would go well with anything, but I suggest the watery consistency would best suit poached eggs.

Heat Rating – 5/10

Taste Rating – 8/10

Ring Sting – 2/10

Pros – Tastes delish, made in Port Macquarie, respectable heat

Cons – Presentation is a bit boring and doesn’t do it justice

Price – $12

Purchased from – Blackwattle Deli at The Fish Markets (http://www.blackwattledeli.com.au/)

Product Review: Desert Pepper Habanero Salsa

18 Jan
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Shits on supermarket salsa.

Whilst on a chilli buying rampage – at Blackwattle Deli (Sydney Fishmarkets) – I picked up a jar of this salsa for $5 from a bargain bin!!!! What an absolute bargain. In hindsight I didn’t check the best before, but it didn’t make my guts any worse than they already are, so happy days.

The Desert Pepper website describes the salsa as:

“Sell your soul and steel your taste-buds for a red-hot descent into the fiery pit of flavor.  It’s an unholy alliance of tropical habaneros and molten jalapenos that’s hotter than Hades, and viciously delicious.  Feel the burn.  Because you know you’re a glutton for punishment, and this salsa will leave you begging for more.”

Their analysis of their own product is half right and half wrong. While the salsa did “steel my tastebuds” and is “viciously delicious”, it certainly does not deliver on its satanic promises of a “descent into the fiery pit”.

It is a very fruity and tomatoey salsa with lots of big fresh chunks of stuff. This is the perfect salsa to replace supermarket rubbish like Doritos or Old El Paso salsa.

There is enough heat there to be interesting but its nothing crazy.

Other than the lack of heat, I also thought the salsa wasn’t salty enough. This could play into its favour though when paired with mega salty foods like chips or tacos.

This one is well worth the buy, especially if you can get it for 5 bucks!!!

Heat Rating – 2/10

Taste Rating – 7.5/10

Ring Sting – 0/10

Pros – Fresh, fruity

Cons – Lack of heat, not salty enough

Price – $5

Purchased from – Blackwattle Deli at the Sydney Fishmarkets