Smouldering Chocolate Fireballs

Ancient Central and South Americans have been combining chilies and chocolate since at least 595 A.D., why shouldn’t the folks over at The Chilli Pepper company.

Ingredients: sugar, full cream milk powder, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, cream, marc de champagne, concentrated whey, alcohol, jalapeno chilli powder, orange oil, milk proteins, soya lecithin, natural vanilla.

With mother’s day around the corner chocolates are always a good idea. When I received these little gems in the mail, I rushed over to visit dear ol’ Mom and kill two birds with one chocolate.

Bouquet: It smells like chocolate.

Texture: The chocolate is firm and doesn’t get “melty” when handled.

Taste: The first thing I (and Mom) noticed was the high quality of the chocolate. The outer chocolate has a light milky orange taste and despite being very firm, yields to the tooth quite easily. The center has a smooth crème de champagne taste that is really nice. At the finish the Jalapeno flavor enters, bites you, and then leaves just as quick.

After all was said and done, I was happy with the chocolates and more importantly Mom was happy. Don’t forget your mom on May 11th I’m sure these chocolates would do the trick.

The Chilli Pepper Company
www.chileseeds.co.uk

Recently I spent three weeks on an all organic diet. This sent me on a search for a Hot Sauce that would meet my dietitian’s approval. Enter: The Wizard.

Ingredients: Apple Cider Vinegar, Filtered Water, Cayenne Pepper, Agave Syrup, Salt, Umeboshi Vinegar, Red Miso, Ginger Puree, Garlic, Coriander, Cumin, Xanthan Gum, Cayenne Extract.

A food can only be certified organic by the USDA if it is produced “without the use of conventional pesticides, artificial fertilizers or sewage sludge and that they were processed without ionizing radiation or food additives”. I hoped this sauce would make my time in organic land more pleasant.

Bouquet (smell): Open the bottle and you get a whiff of equal parts vinegar and cayenne.

Texture: Ultra thin and watery, doesn’t stick to plate, food or side of bottle. I put a healthy dose on an organic Tempe sandwich but, most of it ran off the food and made a puddle on the plate.

Taste: If you want to experience this sauce without buying it, just soak your food in apple cider vinegar and salt. I didn’t taste garlic, miso, ginger, or even a hint of pepper. I did however taste vinegar, and loads of it. No heat is detected whatsoever. It all but ruined a perfectly good sandwich.

Medal Round (Ratings)
Package: Silver (I dig wizards)
Heat: Did Not Medal
Taste: Did Not Medal

Overall Score: Does Not Medal

Please welcome Newman to the HSB with his first review! Having never heard of Habby Habanero’s, I’m glad to read a review of it, has anyone else ever tried this sauce? Welcome to the HSB Newman!

Packaging works on me. The clever anecdotes and design always work their magic, just as the marketing guru behind it had planned.

As for Habby Habanero’s? Its package is no different. The distinctive style of Tropical Heat, with its cabana-suit clad spokesman/gangster, cried out to me from the Jungle Jim’s shelf. I was completely content keeping this “funny for all the wrong reasons” sauce in my collection unopened as a conversation piece forever. Until I read the ingredients.

Ingredients: Peaches, Mustard (Distilled Water, Mustard Seed, Salt, Spices), Brown Sugar, Habanero Peppers, Vinegar, Spices.

The peaches threw a curve ball into the mix, and as a rule I like to see the peppers a little higher on the list. So I must admit that I was skeptical at best.

Bouquet (smell): After cracking open the bottle, the entire room filled with a distinct – and unexpected – aroma of curry. No peaches. No peppers. No mustard. Just curry and plenty of it.

Texture: It pours much thinner than it moves in the bottle, so there’s not much “coating” action, and the visible spices are all that stick to the plate.

Taste: I made a pot of Haitian rice under the guise that this sauce would have a tropical personality. I was wrong. After the first bite, I definitely recognized the curry flavor but it took a decided back seat to the peaches. The habanero, however, is practically lost in this strange mix. I found myself wondering if the little heat that was present was simply from the curry and the peppers just get smothered in this flavor log-jam. But, the silver lining is that it could make a really nice glaze for baked chicken or on top of jasmine rice.

Medal Round (Ratings):
Package: Weirdly A Gold
Heat: An Easy Bronze
Taste: A Bronze

Overall: It scores a bronze

Habby Habanero’s Food Products
P.O. Box 8798
Jacksonville, FL 32239
904.333.9758
MSRP: $5.95 (5.7oz. Flask)