[CH] Review of a rocoto hot sauce
Cameron Begg (begg@ceof.ohio-state.edu)
Wed, 07 Jan 2004 14:27:01 -0500
Hi C-H's,
Before Christmas I read the post from Jay Burgess about a rocoto
sauce being marketed by http://www.2hotsauce.com and decided to try
some.
The dumpy 7fl.oz. bottle has a yellow label with red, green and black
printing and the product name is "2 Hot Rocoto Sauce". It also
carries the captions: "All Natural", "Without Vinegar" and "The
Original Rocoto Hot Sauce".
Ingredients: Rocoto hot pepper original from the Andes of Peru, salt,
Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), Xanthan Gum.
Appearance: Red, smooth and goopy - much like tomato sauce.
Taste: The sauce actually has a vaguely tomato like aroma but has the
characteristic peachy (if muted) taste of rocoto. It is very salty.
Pleasant heat, but no way it will be "2hot" even for C-H's of the
moderate persuasion! I enjoyed it applied generously to my lunch time
pizza leftovers. This sauce is unique in that it is made from rocotos
and may be the only way some of you will get to taste the unusual
fruity flavor of C. pubescens.
I exchanged a few emails with the person who is looking after sales
in Miami FL - Julio Werner - and he was most helpful in providing as
much information as he could about the cultivation of these peppers
in Peru. (If any of you would like me to summarize this information
on this list please let me know.) He also let me know that the sauce
is fermented. The company wants to keep the manufacturing process
secret, but my guess is that it is a salt tolerant yeast fermented
mash, diluted with water and thickened with the xanthan gum. The
ascorbic acid is there no doubt to keep the pH low enough to avoid
dangerous spoilage. It would be great in a recipe if you used it in
place of salt. I expect it would also make a very good bloody mary. I
am happy to have some on hand for those times when fresh rocs are not
available.
The price is reasonable at $4.50/bottle but the shipping is quite
expensive. The web site does not work properly with Safari although
"IExploder" was OK.
Disclaimer: I have no connection with the company and these opinions
are my own.
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Regards, Cameron.