When I first received this product for review I assumed that we’d been sent a sample jar, but I was mistaken! A quick glance at the label and I soon realised that this is a complete offering from the one and only Mini Jar Company.

The Mini Jar Company is a small, family run business which was founded in early 2012 by Lin Whitehead to complement her existing homemade chutney & preserve business, Holly and the Ivy. Lin has been manufacturing a range of specialised chutneys, curds, mustards and preserves from her kitchen in Birmingham since 2004, but launched The Mini Jar Company in response to increasing demand for smaller versions of her products. They say good things come in small packages and that was certainly true when we reviewed Mango & Chilli Jam and Scotch Bonnet & Garlic Chutney from The Mini Jar Company a few months back.

With small products it can be quite a challenge to fit everything on the product label. Fortunately The Mini Jar Company has managed to find room for all of the essential information whilst still maintaining readability. Whilst I would love to have seen a high quality gloss label, I understand that wouldn’t be practical since all of their products are made in small batches. My only real criticism regarding the labelling is the inclusion of the company name 3 times.

Ingredients: 

Lime, Naga Chilli, Onion, Cider Vinegar, Mustard Seed, Golden Sultanas, Mixed Spice and Sugar

Jar kindly provided by The Mini Jar Company.

This chutney has a wonderful citrus aroma which is bolstered by the fruitiness of the golden sultanas. A hint of mixed spice lingers is the background too, but isn’t immediately obvious.

A teaspoon easily fits through the opening of the 45ml jar, but I resist the temptation to take a whole spoonful. Initially I am greeted by the sweetness of the sultanas and the zing of the lime, but the onion and spices provide a nice balance and ensure that the overall flavour is not too sweet or tangy. I wasn’t able to taste the Naga chilli but there’s certainly plenty of it. My tongue was ablaze for several minutes making this one of the hotter chutneys that I’ve tried.

The texture of this product is quite diverse as there are soft pieces of onion and lime which are accompanied by juicy sultanas and crunchy mustard seeds. It spreads well, but is thick enough that you won’t have to worry about it escaping from your sandwiches.

In addition to sandwiches, this chutney would be a great accompaniment to cold meats and cheeses. It could also be used to liven up grilled chicken or fish dishes too.

Small jars are never going to represent the same value as their larger counterparts, but at £1.25 for a 45ml jar I think that this product is great value. You can purchase Lime and Naga Chilli Chutney direct from The Mini Jar Company along with another 15+ chilli products including jam, peanut butter, marmalade and other chutneys. If you love variety then these products could be for you, but if small jars aren’t your thing then the same products are available in larger sizes from Holly and the Ivy too.

Note: All Mini Jar Company products are suitable for coeliacs, vegetarians and vegans.

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Whether it’s on flour tortillas or English muffins, we love quick and easy homemade pizza snacks. So pizza sauce is a must-have staple in our pantry. Let’s look at 3 pizza sauces you can find in your local grocer today.

Don Pepino Pizza Sauce, Furano’s Pizza Sauce Original, and Dei Fratelli Pizza Sauce.

Today we’re eating them on English muffins. We do a 3 step process to make our quick mini pizzas in the toaster oven.

1. Lightly pre-toast the muffins.
2. Spoon on the sauce and sprinkle the shredded cheese.
3. Bake until done.
Hit the broiler to crisp up the top if you’ve added pepperoni or other meats. (I love anchovies).

The Sauces:

Dei Fratelli: tomatoes, sugar, sea salt, corn starch, dehydrated onion, olive oil, spices, dehydrated garlic, spices, peppers, natural flavors, vinegar.

The smoothest, silkiest sauce of the bunch, it was also the least flavorful. It’s amazing that the onion, garlic, spices, peppers and vinegar brought nothing to the table in terms of flavor. Very bland.

Furmano’s: tomato concentrate (water, tomato paste), sugar, sea salt, olive oil, spices, dehydrated onion, dehydrated garlic, citric acid.
 
We are big fans of the Furmano’s tomato products here. Their canned whole tomatoes and crushed tomatoes make a perfect base for our pasta sauces. So we are doubly disappointed that Furmano’s Pizza Sauce fell flat. I had high hopes for this sauce to be almost perfect – yet is is just mediocre. Thicker than the Dei Fratelli, it too lacks any flavor beyond crushed tomatoes and salt. It would barely do “in a pinch”.

Don Pepino: tomatos, corn oil, salt, spices, powdered garlic.

Our hands down favorite pizza sauce, Don Pepino has a mild, classic pizza sauce taste – not too tomato-y, not too spicy – it plays well with others, meaning you can dress it up any way you like. Want more garlic? Throw it in. More heat? Crushed red pepper fits nicely. More Italian spices? We love the Italian Seasoning Mix from Pampered Chef. Oddly, I think it’s the sweetest of the sauces, yet “sugar” is nowhere in the list of ingredients. Must be the natural sweetness of the tomatoes they use.
And the texture is nice and fairly thick. I love the way it soaks into the English Muffin as it bakes. This process really thickens up the sauce, and makes for a very satisfying mouth feel.

Did we leave your favorite out? What is your favorite store bought pizza sauce? Let us know in the Comments below.

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At this time of year, when you cannot find fresh Chillies easily, the only solution is to buy dried either in powder, flakes or whole pods but here we have something in between flakes and whole pods. From The Love of Chilies comes their freeze dried Pequin Chilli “Chunks” for want of a better word.

These Chillies are packaged in a rather attractive black metal tin which contain approximately 9 grams of Chilli chunks. The tin comes with a black elastic band holding on the main label which is tightly wrapped around the tin and contains all the information about the company.

The Love of Chilies state that their quest is “To get the best Chillies on your (and our) table so we shall see whats inside.

The website states the following;

“We started The Love of Chilies because we love fresh chilies and wanted to find a way to preserve not just their spice, but also their flavor. We were frustrated by the dried chilies available out there.

It took two years to find the right chilies and the best process.

Island-grown chilies

Our chilies are grown on the Finca la Sarantontona, a farm on the Spanish Canary Island of Lanzarote. The Finca is run by a family dedicated to fair trade and organic farming. Conditions on the windy and dry volcanic island are harsh, creating intense flavors in whatever manages to grow there.

Freeze dried for perfection

Our chilies are a Pequin variety, known to be very hot. It is impossible to pick them with machines.

Thanks to the food scientists at the Technical University in Berlin, we tested many different preservation techniques. The best results, by far, were achieved through freeze-drying, which maintains the unique flavor of our chilies.

As soon as fruits are cut they react with oxygen. For that reason, all of our chilies are hand cut in the processing area and immediately freeze dried.”

Once the jar is open, the Chillies inside are a nice orange colour and have been sliced into 3-4mm pieces, and they taste very nice. They would be good to add a decent kick to stews and asian cooking. It’s difficult to say much more really. I have to say that as these come from Lanzarote there is an issue of extra cost and for those concerned about the environment, the carbon footprint of shipping around the world in 9 gram containers.

There is no doubt that Lanzarote sounds like a good place to grow Chillies due to the harsh conditions with relentless sun and little water, but certainly here in the UK although we may not have the best of growing conditions, there is no shortage of quality UK grown dried Chilli pods, either whole, flakes or as powders for those wanting them to cook with. The company is based in Germany so it may be more difficult to obtain quality chillies there?

The Love of Chilies are making the most of an environment in which other crops may not survive, they clearly have a passion for what they are doing which is great, but I do have doubts about whether there is a market in the UK for such a product.

You can buy the Chillies in a tin direct from The Love of Chillies website 

The 9 gram tin will cost 14 Euros (currently just over £12) including shipping to Europe or 2 x 10 gram refill packs for 14 euros too. I have to say I was a little shocked by the prices.

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Scott chats with chile pepper expert and author Dave DeWitt, who is also producer of the National Fiery Foods and Barbecue Show, on the 25th anniversary of the annual event. The late Tabasco CEO Paul McIllhenny is also remembered. Scott debuts the Foodie Tip of the Week and reviews Fri-B-Que Hot Sauce.

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Tonight on the live show we’re busting out the BeelzeBar-BQ Sauce with Firefly’s BBQ! Please accept my sincerest apologies for the late post. I was finishing our video tribute to the late Paul McIlhenny, CEO of Tabasco. If you want to see it make sure to check out our YouTube Channel or tune in tonight!

We’ll also be covering the details of our drunken free-for-all, er, um, I mean live broadcast from the National Fiery Foods and Barbecue Show! SEE YOU TONIGHT AT 9E/6P!

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From Mad-Ass comes a sauce monikered Eve’s Downfall, one that made me smile when I first saw it as I like the cleverness. This product is one of the hotter in their range, but I kind of like the idea that this sauce is made up of Apples and Jolokias, both of which contribute to the downfall of Eve.

The labelling on this jar is a little clearer than that adjourning the Lip Tickler I previously sampled – I can see now that the chilli character logo Mad-Ass are using is laughing evilly, in fact if I look closely enough I’m sure that I can see fangs! Chillies themselves aren’t evil, but the heat certainly can certainly be devilish at times. It comes in the same sizes as Mad-Ass’s other products, the small at £2 and the larger at £5

Ingredients:

Braeburn Apples, Jolokia Chillies, Tomatoes, “The Garlic Farm” Garlic, Root Ginger, Balsamic Vinegar, Demerara Sugar, Rock Salt.

The sauce is a darkish brown colour with only the odd bit or two in an otherwise smooth and fairly middling consistency, which will please those whom don’t like the rougher textured bits. Once the lid is off you’re greeted by the smell of chutney – this isn’t that surprising given the ingredients are dominated by apples; it’s quite an inviting and pleasant aroma that bolsters what might be to come from the eating.

Initially on the tongue, there is a touch of sweetness and then almost immediately a lovely and distinct sourness that takes hold – this is shortly followed by a good level of heat that smarts the gums and the back of the throat when swallowed, something that invites another helping.

Mad-Ass has produced an interesting sauce with Eve’s Downfall; with the ingredients you’d expect a more apple flavour to punch through, but what you get is a taste experience that travels from sweet through to hot and it’s lovely. I’d happily have this with my ploughman’s lunch with a smile on my face.

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You know what’s missing from all of the salsa you’ve ever had in your life? A good helping of Tex-Mex spices and sensibilities. Yes, I’m being just a little bit facetious. Nevertheless, that’s pretty much the aim behind tonight’s product. Native Texan is actually a rather good brand, and they make my favorite queso of all time (which I’ll review once I can find a new jar), but the name of this product just asks for a little bit of good-natured ribbing. After all, most salsas you find on store shelves aren’t exactly authentically Mexican in the first place. Anyway, let’s take a look at this stuff and see what separates it from other salsas.

Ingredients:

Diced Tomatoes, Tomato Puree (water and concentrated crushed tomatoes), Green Peppers (jalapeno and bell), Onions, Lime Juice, Carrots, Cilantro, Salt, Naturally Fermented Apple Cider Vinegar, Spices, Granulated and Dehydrated Garlic

Since we are left with the generic “spices” descriptor, it’s pretty much impossible to tell from the label what makes this any different compared to other salsa products. I do like, though, that there are some carrots in this jar. The flavor on those little orange guys probably won’t be noticeable at all, but that knowledge lets me think I’m eating an even healthier salsa than I do normally. If I have one complaint, it’s that this salsa uses dehydrated garlic for some reason. Why not the fresh stuff? It’s so much better that way.

Appearance:

If I were to judge solely by appearances, I would have to say that this Tex-Mex Salsa looks almost exactly like a standard restaurant salsa. It is moderately chunky, but not overly so, with clear bits of tomatoes and peppers. The one difference is that, yes, there are large chunks of carrots in the jar as well.

Smell and Taste:

Okay, so it does smell a little bit different than other salsas. There are hints of cumin, cayenne, and maybe a little bit of ginger. It’s rather pleasant, and the spices blend rather well with the smell from the fruits and vegetables. The best way to describe the flavor, though, is to say that it tastes a lot like taco seasoning, though it isn’t nearly as salty as that cheap bagged stuff you might get from your supermarket. It also reminds me a bit of chorizo.

Ratings:

FIRE	FLAVOR

The jar says Medium, and that’s precisely what you get here. This isn’t a completely heat-free salsa, but it is tame enough that most capsaicin wimps can probably handle it. I’m pleased with – but not blown away by – the flavor, so I’m going to give it a Nominal. I like it, but I think the spice blend plays too large of a role in the overall flavor when compared to the tomatoes and peppers.

Suggested Uses:

This actually strikes me as a great breakfast salsa. It’ll go well on tacos (especially the aforementioned chorizo), not to mention omelettes and other egg-based dishes. Of course, you could also just have a bag of chips with you and go at it that way, too.

Final Word:

While this is nowhere near the best product I’ve had from Native Texan, it’s still good enough to be worth checking out. At some point in the future, I’ll bring you a review of a jar of their queso. I’ll even do it in this very column, since it’s close enough to salsa to count.

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