SAUCY SORTS
Some fearless readers stepped up to help crown the king in our chilli-sauce contest
‘I’m so impressed with the selection,” said reader Greg Burgess, casting his eye over the table of 40 samples. Burgess was part of a group of 20 readers gathered at the HTA School of Culinary Art in Randburg last Saturday to judge the Food Weekly Best Tasting Chilli Sauce competition. “I’m glad we’ve got South Africans who can make these wonderful chilli sauces,” he said.
The number of entries — and the quality — had surpassed our expectations and we’d called on FW readers to assist in the judging process. Each of the sauces (apart from the few that blew on opening) were decanted into small dishes and presented “naked” to the judges, who marked them according to appearance, texture and taste.
The judges, armed with score sheets, a tub of plain yoghurt and cream crackers, put the sauces to the taste test.
It was the orange-coloured sauce with “lots of fierce chilli but with good lingering flavour” that got the nod. Made by Zack Deedat from Bedfordview, it was powerful stuff. John Rodgers’s Bucks Original Chilli came in second and the spicy/herby Green Jungle by Cliff Topper was third.
A delighted Deedat said he’d always been a chilli freak and had decided to make his own when he couldn’t buy a sauce hot enough to “satisfy my craving”.
“For me, a chilli sauce is all about heat. It’s important that the sauce doesn’t alter the taste of the food but rather acts as a complementary flavour enhancer,” he said.
His secret? “Habanero chillies, those magnificent bright orange atom bombs.” Here, he shares his winning recipe. 2kg habanero chilli peppers Handful of green chillies, any variety Handful of red chillies, any variety 1 litre white spirit vinegar 250ml (1 cup) fresh lemon juice 45ml (3 tbsp) brown sugar 10ml (2 tsp) salt or more to taste 45ml (3 tbsp) garlic, paste or crushed 5ml (1 tsp) ginger paste or crushed ginger. 100ml oil (canola, olive or vegetable) 250ml readymade mustard sauce 500ml tomato sauce 20ml (4 tsp) red chilli powder 5ml (1 tsp) ground white pepper Using latex gloves, remove chillies’ stalks. Rinse and place in a large pot on stove. Add vinegar, lemon juice, sugar and salt and bring to a slow boil over low heat. Add all other wet ingredients and stir while bubbling. Keep safely away from fumes. Lastly add chilli powder and white pepper. Mix well and cook for a few more minutes until peppers are a pulpy/soft consistency. Add salt to taste. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
Blitz in the pot using a hand-held blender. Protect your hands from handling the sauce directly. Decant into tight-fitting, sterilised glass bottles and refrigerate. I keep the sauce for about 3 months.