Posted January 17, 2008 by Lars in Reviews

Not Yo’ Mama’s Pepper Marmalade

Not Yo’ Mama’s
Pepper Marmalade

I decided to take a peek at the Not Yo’ Mama’s Gourmet Foods website before I went about trying this product.
http://notyomamasgourmet.com/

From the looks of things here, they specialize in pepper marmalades. I couldn’t find any hot sauce, barbecue sauce, salsa, or whatnot. But that’s cool; man cannot live on hot sauce alone! Although I’m quite certain that there are a few people reading this that would contest that statement. Not Yo’ Mama’s makes 2 types of pepper marmalade, the mild one I will be reviewing today and one with added habanero chilies. So essentially it’s the same product with two heat levels. Although given the nature of the habanero and its amazing flavor, I can bet that it adds a more complex and earthy flavor to the hotter version. But alas, since I only have the mild it will have to do. So let’s see what they have to say about their own marmalade.

‘Not Yo’ Mama’s Pepper Marmalade

Our original pepper marmalade is made with a blend of red and yellow sweet bell peppers, pure cane sugar, and the finest cider vinegar spiked with orange zest, mango, and Serrano peppers for a little kick. The slightly spicy, sweet and sour marmalade is great poured over cream cheese with crackers for a quick and easy appetizer or with your favorite chicken, pork, vegetable and seafoods for a new twist on old favorites. Try it and you’ll see why we say, “Mama Never Made It This Good”!

First impression: Interesting that they suggest seafood! I just so happen to have some fried fish fillets and some breaded shrimp that would probably be perfect for this stuff. But I’ll still have to give it the initial spoon taste test to see how the description holds up to my impression. Looking through the jar it’s this bright red color, very viscous looking, kind of like any marmalade would look through a jar. Although the color does look artificial, it turns out that there is NOTHING artificial in the ingredient list.

Ingredients: red & yellow peppers, cane sugar, apple cider vinegar, water, mango puree, Serrano peppers (peppers, water, salt, acetic acid), orange zest, salt, pectin, citric acid.

Everything looks pretty tasty. I’d have to pick slightly at sugar being #2 on the list, but hey this is pepper marmalade so it goes with the territory. And looking at the Serrano peppers, it’s obvious that they are using canned or jarred peppers. The water, salt, and acetic acid are a dead giveaway to this. And it shows in the marmalade too. Just looking at the peppers in the mix they have a very dark pickled color to them, so that is another minus in my book. I bet they would get more heat from this marmalade had fresh Serrano chilies been used, instead of the canned/jarred variety. Other than these two minor items, everything looks great thus far! Let’s take a closer look and give this stuff a taste!

Appearance/Smell/Taste: Without further ado, I twist open the lid and give myself a nice hearty sniff of this stuff. Being there are sweet bell peppers and mango puree there is a very sweet very fruity smell to this marmalade. I think that the smell of the sweet bell peppers is stronger than the mango puree, but then again I have never been a huge fan of mango. So my olfactory sense might be off slightly here. It does give me the impression that it would make a great accompaniment to sea food like I read and stated earlier. I give the spoon test first; lo and behold the flavor is very sweet initially. I do like sweet sauces, but if the sauce is overbearingly sweet I’d have to take a pass. Fortunately for Not Yo’ Mama’s Pepper Marmalade it’s not too sweet, it’s just right in fact! There is a slight tartness to the flavor and there actually is a slight tinge of heat at the back of my throat. Very slight. Once this goes on food I can guarantee that the heat will probably be non-existent. Let’s give her a go, shall we?

Prepared meal: Fried Fish Fillet and Fired Shrimp w/rice.

I had these left over from a recent festival. It’s always great working at food festivals. And even better when the Fish ‘n Chips bloke is right next to your booth! That and they love hot sauce! Always a plus for trading. So I walk away with a load of Fish ‘n Chips and fried shrimp. Most went into the freezer as there was no way I was going to get through all of this before it turned. So heating up a lovely portion of fish and shrimp. I then prepared 1 cup of basmati rice with Â¼ tsp. of tumeric to give it that nice yellow color. I hadn’t had crispy greasy fried fish like this in ages! Once the marmalade hits the hot food it has a really nice sweet smell. It’s almost a pickly sort of relishy smell, but it goes great with the fish and the shrimp. Enough of me blabbering on here, let’s eat some food!

Complement to meal: Slathering the fish and shrimp in the marmalade it looks wonderful! Once the marmalade hits the hot food the flavor of the orange zest becomes more prominent. It actually tastes more like a tart relish than marmaladelike it does on it’s own. The change in the flavor profile is common in many sauces once it gets heated. I really think that there is a more relishy aspect on the fish, almost like a fruity tartar sauce! The heat as expected has been reduced to absolute zero. Not even a sniffle aftr going through 2 large fish fillets and about 6-8 fried shrimp! I’m curious now to see how this stuff fares with it’s other suggested uses like cream cheese?!? Might be a good addition for making a party platter and some dip of sorts or preparing some hors d’ovures with the cream cheese all mixed up in there. Give it a try! It’s actually quite good as far as marmalades go. And in the past I can’t say that I’ve ever been much of a fan of jams and marmalades. I bet the hotter version of this one would be quite grand on some seafood! Till next time fellow chile-heads! -Lars-