Posted August 11, 2012 by Martin 'Scooby' Arnold in Bloggers

Grant Hawthorne’s African Volcano Peri Peri

Well it’s not every day you get asked to do a review on a famous chef, let alone two reviews. But When asked to review Grant Hawthorne’s latest culinary delights I jumped at the chance. They are called African Volcano, one being a Peri Peri marinade and the other a Peri Peri sauce I thought what the hell lets do a double review.

For those who do not know who Gran Hawthorne is awarded as the Master Chef of Great Britain. Hawthorne must be part of team GB Olympic squad as these two products are truly golden in colour and both award winning. African cuisine, but British made.

250g bottles with a label that on its own would be boring and bland, but the background is something else. Predominantly looking to be an oil based sauce with the marinade offering a very rich and very powerful dark sunset colour at the top, and a very much darker and less oily base which seems to have all of the good stuff. All of the chilli and seasonings.

As for the sauce??? On the whole it is extremely similar in visual texture being nice and smooth with the oil on top, but the colour is of a lighter amber compared to its marinade.

Ingredients: (Marinade) Fresh Chilli (3%), Olive oil (11%), White wine (28%), Garlic (11%), Plus other seasonings.

Ingredients: (Sauce) Chilli (5%), Dried chilli (1%), Tomato (15%), Olive oil (9%), Red wine (3%), Garlic (2%), Plus other seasonings.

Bottles kindly provided by African Volcano

Well the first thing that stands out to me which fills me with confidence is that the sauces have different amounts of chilli/dry chilli in. Its not like Grant has just gone and used the same base of chilli and adjusted the flavours around it. Good start.

On to some flavours Well the marinade first and all I can say is give me some boxes because this ticks them all haha. Very smooth in texture and taste. It takes a couple of seconds before the heat comes through which is great as you get a real feel for the African flavours. You get a hint of the white wine and a lovely blast of garlic and it is only then that the heat pulls through while retaining a beautiful smooth African spice flavour.

And the sauce??? In all honesty it is extremely similar to its counterpart. The only real difference I can find is that the sauce is slightly looser and better for pouring although they maintain similar textures. The seasonings taste brilliant and compliment the textures amazingly. No horrible bitterness or sharpness from the wine or oils, just two lovely and enjoyable products. Heat is noted on bottle as being medium which I would agree with for someone looking for a product for taste that is enjoyable. Both very versatile and great tasting.

So remember guys, if it burns going in, it will burn coming out.