Please welcome Ethan to the HSB with his first review! Nando’s eXtra Hot has been my favorite Nando’s sauce for quite some time (with the exception of the limited edition Bottled Fire) and I’m glad to see someone new enjoyed the sauce as well. Welcome to the HSB Ethan!
I’ll admit it: I’m not a fan of peri-peri peppers. I’ve tried various peri-peri sauces, and have even grown a few varieties of bird’s-eye peppers in my own garden. While the peri-peri’s heat may compare to some habanero pods, I just don’t like the flavor as much. To make things worse, peri-peri sauces taste “mustardy” and I don’t like mustard.
So why did I pick Nando’s eXtra-hot Peri-peri Sauce for my first review? For starters, I didn’t want to kick things off by reviewing a sauce that I already loved (or hated). I wanted to try something fresh and new. Second, while I had sampled some of Nando’s products before, I had never really given them a fair try. I wanted to cook a meal specifically aimed at this sauce and give it every chance to shine. I flipped through some cooking magazines and found an easy recipe simply titled “Grilled Fish.” Someone worked long and hard on that one. But the recipe sounded like the perfect opportunity to crack open a new bottle of Nando’s and dig in.
Ingredients: Water, Vinegar, Salt, Lemon Puree, Serrano Peppers, Onion Puree, African Bird’s Eye Peppers (Peri-peri Peppers), Sunflower Oil, Cayenne Pepper, Xanthan Gum, Paprika, Garlic, Propylene Glycol Alginate
The Nando’s packaging looks first-rate, with a clean label and nice fonts. I’m not so sure it would stand out on a grocery store shelf, but it’s not gimmicky which earns it a few points in my book. The sauce itself has a very nice consistency, pouring easily and staying put on the food. Bits of peppers, seeds, and other ingredients are clearly visible giving the sauce a very pleasing appearance. It smells absolutely delicious, almost begging me to drink straight from the bottle! On the HSB heat scale, I’d call this a 5: a nice, comfortable medium. The flavors blended well with the lime juice and onions on the fish. Rather than overpower or ruin the flavor of the fish, the sauce improved it. This sauce is sweet, with a hint of lemon and garlic. Just like the label implies, Nando’s Peri-peri sauces definitely go best on chicken and fish. I wouldn’t go so far as to call this a “Specific Application Sauce,” but I don’t see myself getting too adventurous with it.
Overall, I like it more than I like the other peri-peri sauces I’ve tried, but that’s not saying much. I won’t be eating it straight from the bottle (although the aroma tempts me!) but I’ll probably break it open again the next time I grill. If you’re like me and prefer the flavors of other pepper varieties I don’t think you’ll miss much by skipping this one, but if you like peri-peri peppers this is definitely a sauce worth trying.
Imported By: Nando’s Chickenland, Inc
1041 West 18th Street
Suite A205
Costa Mesa CA 92627
800.625.2657