Review: Csigi – Fra Diavolo Pasta Sauce
Ingredients: Tomato Puree, Organic crushed tomato, red onion, tomato paste, extra virgin olive oil, basil, minced garlic, orange habanero chiles (fresh whole pods**), extra coarse sea salt, turbinado sugar, coarse black pepper, spices.
**Not every jar will contain a habanero pod. This is due to the canning process.
Finding a truly spicy tomato sauce right from the jar is a tough thing to do. Sure it is easy to add some heat with spices and sauce, but to have a sauce that comes straight to the table with enough heat to actually satisfy the spicy craving is a rarity.
With most pasta sauces out of the jar I am quite skeptical. They are always lacking in something whether it be simply from salt and pepper or to a more specific spice. This is one time though that I have not been disappointed. Straight out of this hefty bottle to a sauce pan this tomato sauce was better than almost any I have tried. I am not going to try and find any fault in this pasta sauce as there is none. From the first initial waft of aroma to the final mixing stage to the pasta, everything was stellar.
I tossed most of the bottle into a sauce pan and set it over lowmedium heat while water was boiling right until the pasta was boiled through. I took several taste tests to see if anything additional should be added. Okay, if I was to add a negative comment it would be that my bottle did not contain a habanero pod. No matter though. Throughout the heating up process the sauce remained uniformly thick and released a burst of aroma with every oxygenated bubble that burst under the heat of the element.
Mixing the sauce into the pasta was another revelation among bottles sauces. It took just a mere few seconds to have all this wonderful sauce blended in to the pasta.
As for the heat. Well yes, there is definitely a kick up from the rest of commercial sauces I have tried out there, Not so much to scare anyone off. But enough for this pasta sauce to live up to its name. The heat definitely came from the hab’s but there wasn’t so much as a taste from the habanero’s. I could have kicked this up a few notches myself, but for anyone that is just looking for a spicy pasta sauce off the shelf you can’t get anything better.
There is a little bit left in the jar. Just enough to coat some bread and make one killer meatball sub. I can also see this being used a pizza sauce as well. Your limits do not have to be left to just pasta.
To wrap it up, you have a pasta sauce that is thick and rich, that delivers up to its name in being “spicy” and ultimately an extremely flavourful sauce that you can simply heat and serve with worrying about adjusting any levels to it.
An exceptional product!
Csigi Chili Sauce Gourmet Foods distributed by:
THC Netwurx LLC
508 Main Street
Suite 242
Stroudsburg, PA 18360www.csigichilisauce.com
lars@csigichilisauce.com
570-420-8664
Great review Anthony:
I want to try this. I’m looking for availabilty. I can mail order as a last resort. Any suggestions, anyone? I’m in North Carolina.
Steve
[Comment ID #124083 Quote]
Just visit his website at: http://www.csigigourmet.gourmetfoodmall.com/
That way you are just giving the money directly to Lars instead of some store.
[Comment ID #124083 Quote]
GO TO JUNGLE JIM’S
This stuff is extremely good. Buy lots.
Hey Anthony, thanks for the great review. If you are looking for a place near you that might stock some of my products, you can always check my website here..
http://csigigourmet.gourmetfoodmall.com/StaticPage.php?pageid=1186
In North Carolina you can find my stuff at 3 Gatos Fire & Rice…
http://www.3gatosfireandrice.com/page/page/4336020.htm
I hope this helps you out some.
And if you live in Ohio, there is always Jungle Jims! -Lars-
[Comment ID #124086 Quote]
I understand, but I also don’t mind people buying at the stores too. This gives the stores a reason to continue to buy my products! 🙂
How’s the vinaigrette treating you Passow? Have you marinated anything with it yet? Make some kabobs with (marinate all items) beef, chicken, onions, tomatoes, and sweet peppers! The smell coming off the grill will make your mouth water! -Lars-
This indeed is a very fine pasta sauce.
[Comment ID #124101 Quote]
Ah, good point about the store thing. I just baught some Defcon 1 at Heather’s Heat and Flavor just to show that people will buy it and he should stock up on it (I think they have your sauce there but not the vinaigrette, which is sad…infact they don’t have any salad dressing, you should hit them up).
As for the vinaigrette? I went through that stuff so fast it was sooooo good! I gave the second bottle to my neighbor, kevin weisman, who ended up ordering from you after I gave him one of your other sauces to try. (PS, I’m in Cleveland now….just a heads up;) ). I heard you improved the recipy a little? Is that true?
Thanks man! I’ll hit them up alright.
So no more acting out in LA? Are you back with your family now?
I did improve the emulsion of the dressing, but honestly, I’m not sure if I want to keep it this way or not. It doesn’t separate as quickly as before, but it’s almost like the flavor has changed slightly. Mind you, not in a bad way either, it just seems a little ‘different’. Although this could just be me being overly picky as usual. lol
Good luck on Ohio man! -Lars-
Thanks for this great review! I just bought 4 jars from Gourmet Food Mall — can’t wait til they arrive.
[Comment ID #124352 Quote]
Ya, hit em up. Tell ’em that Jonathan Passow from The Hot Zone Online endorses your stuff. 😉
Ya, done with acting, the business has changed completely and is even more impossible to get into now. Plus, the time was right.
I’m back in Ohio (after driving cross country from Dec 25-31st) and taking care of my mom. She had shoulder replacement surgury and now has some complications that they may think is “complex regional pain syndrome”. If that’s true, it’s not a good sign. She’s extremely bummed because this is rendering her right arm basically useless and it may stay that way for the rest of her life. She doesn’t deserve this.
Hey man I wish you and your mom well with that. I hope that things turn out for the better and she regains the use of her arm. No one deserves that for sure. Best wishes and good luck in Ohio. -Lars-
[Comment ID #124390 Quote]
It’s on it’s way! You should have gotten the e-mail with the tracking info for you. Enjoy! -Lars-
Damn, Lars! Damn! That stuff is FINE. I wanted to help you out, so I gave away three bottles (yes it killed me to do so). But everyone loved it. More orders inbound!