Sauces & Condiments

Fruity Passion Fruit Pepper Sauce.

passionfruit pepper sauce (6)

With my love for peppersauce (hot sauce) I’m always challenging myself to find different flavors to compliment the scorching heat of our beloved Scotch Bonnet Peppers, to add balance, depth and a unique finish. While this peppersauce is fiery, the fruity undertones of the passion fruit makes it very tasty and bearable for those of you who are not into pure heat! My mom like many from her generation, will argue that when making a ‘good’ peppersauce there’s no room for fruit. However with the success I’ve had with the 10 + fruity pepper sauces I’ve shared on here, that mindset can be challenged.

You’ll Need…

1 cup passion fruit puree
1/2 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
12-14 scotch bonnet

* feel free to add a couple cloves of garlic and some chopped cilantro if you’d like to play around with the flavors a bit. Some fresh lime or lemon juice would be ideal as well.

Wash the peppers and remove the stems, then give them a rough chop to help your blender or food processor make this easy work. IMPORTANT!  Be sure to wear gloves and wash your hands immediately  after with soap and water. I used the seeds of the pepper, but if you’d like to tame the heat down a bit you can remove and discard them.

passionfruit pepper sauce (1)

If you’re wondering, you can get the passion fruit puree in the frozen section of West Indian, Asian and Latino grocery stores.  I found the batch I used at a local Asian supermarket.

Basically all you have to do now is place all the ingredients in your blender and blend until smooth.

passionfruit pepper sauce (2)

passionfruit pepper sauce (3)

passionfruit pepper sauce (4)

passionfruit pepper sauce (5)

You can always tailor this pepper sauce to your own liking, by leaving it chunky or by adding other fruits you like (mango, berries etc) and if you need, you can also add a bit more vinegar should you need it (if it’s too thick).

passionfruit pepper sauce (7)

I wanted to maintain both the heat level and fresh fruity undertones of the passion fruit so I left it raw. However you can always cook it for 10 minutes on a low simmer, then bottle. As is, it can last about a month of your kitchen counter, but for a much longer shelf life, store in the fridge. Just give it a shake before using. Definitely not my mom’s peppersauce, but it’s SO good! If you cannot source Scotch Bonnet peppers, an excellent replacement would be Habanero peppers.

Gluten Free Sauces & Condiments

Fiery Bajan (Barbados) Pepper Sauce.

bajan-pepper-sauce-recipe-6

After a week of enjoying some of the best (probably debatable) peppersauce while tasting Barbados, I thought I’d share my take on this classic Caribbean hot sauce. We were in Barbados for the annual Food and Rum Festival and like the rest of the Caribbean, there were an assortment of pepper sauces to accompany every dish we had. Bajans (Barbadians) are VERY passionate about their pepper sauces and while this recipe is not as “traditional”, it could rival any we enjoyed while in Barbados.

You’ll Need…

16 Scotch Bonnet Peppers
3/4 cup white vinegar
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon chopped turmeric
2 tablespoon chopped cilantro
3/4 teaspoon prepared mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt (I used Sea Salt)

Note: While this recipe falls under the gluten free category I ask you to go through the entire list of ingredients to make sure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary needs. Also note that this is a “PepperSauce” so it’s meant to be VERY spicy, however you can leave out the seeds of the peppers to tame things down slightly. Wear gloves and wash your hands with spaod and water immediately after handling such hot peppers.

bajan-pepper-sauce-recipe-1

Wash and remove the stems from the Scotch Bonnet peppers (works well with Habanero peppers as well), then give them a rough chop. Smash the garlic and also give the cilantro a rough chop. If you’re in the Caribbean and have access to shado beni, you can use a couple leaves of that instead of the cilantro. Peel or scrape the skin off the turmeric and give it a rough chop as well. Please note that the turmeric may stain your fingers a brilliant yellow/orange color.

bajan-pepper-sauce-recipe-2

Then it’s just a matter of placing all the ingredients into a blender or food processor and working until it’s smooth (or you can pulse it if you want the peppersuace a bit chunky).

bajan-pepper-sauce-recipe-3

bajan-pepper-sauce-recipe-4

bajan-pepper-sauce-recipe-5

While speaking to people in Barbados, there seemed to be as many people who agree on cooking this sauce as there were people who said to leave it raw. I left it raw as I find that cooking takes away some of the heat of the sauce and since I used fresh turmeric, I wanted to maintain most of it’s health benefits. I must mention that the use of turmeric in not necessarily traditional to Bajan pepper sauce, but since I’m not a huge fan of mustard, I went this route (we found Bajan pepper sauces to have strong mustard undertones). If you prefer to cook this hot sauce, bring it to a boil and immediately reduce it to a gentle simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Since we used white vinegar as a base this will be fine in a bottle on your counter for a couple months or in the fridge for about 4 months. Also note that I’ve found that placing hot sauces in the fridge also tapers the heat level as time goes by.

Look for more recipes inspired by our trip to Barbados in the coming weeks. Are you following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram yet? Join in on the fun today!

Sauces & Condiments

An Ambrosial Pepper Sauce Recipe.

recipe for homemade pepper sauce

It’s been a sticky summer with just about everyday being extremely hot and humid, but I’m not complaining except for the havoc all this heat is doing to my habanero plants. If you’re connected to the Facebook Fan Group, you’d know that a few weeks back I was seeking advice on what to do with my plants. They were dropping their leaves and not holding on to the flowers or baby peppers. Good news is that I finally got some peppers, but the yield is about 70% lower than in previous years.  I’m hoping that the cool weather we get in mid to late August will see the second crop be better.

As we’ve discussed in previous hot sauce (pepper sauce) recipes, in the Caribbean just about everyone makes their own sauce and have some sort of secret family recipe or the other. But if we were to define our hot sauces, one word comes to mind – HOT! This sauce is not a traditional Caribbean pepper sauce, since we’ll be using canned peaches and the texture is a but more liquid than the ones we make down the islands. Traditional stuff is a bit more thick or chunky, with the use of carrots, papaya, chunks of ripe limes and other native ingredients.

* NOTE: If you’re using scotch bonnet or habanero peppers and you want the flavour without all the heat, discard the seeds and inner white membrane. This is where all the real heat is in peppers. Additionally, when cutting up the peppers be sure to use a disposable gloves or rub cooking oil over your hands to form a a protective shield from the oils from the peppers. And don’t forget to wash your hands thoroughly with soap after you’re done with this recipe.

You’ll Need…

16 hot peppers (Habanero, Scotch Bonnet or whatever you consider to be hot)
1 can peaches in syrup (trust me on this one my Caribbean people) 14oz
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 cup distilled vinegar
2 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon black pepper
3 tablespoon chopped cilantro (use shado beni if you have instead)
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
3 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon mustard

trinidad peppersauce recipe

Remove the stems from the peppers and give them a rough chop so it’s easier to puree in your blender or food processor. Basically all you’re doing is adding all the ingredients to the blender as in my case and puree until you have a smooth consistency.

habanero peppers for making hot sauce

recipe for homemade pepper sauce

homemade caribbena hotsauce

new trinidad peppersauce recipe

caribbean pepper sauce recipe

making hot suace from habaneros

habanero hotsuace recipe

Don’t ask me why as I can’t explain, but if you allow the finished sauce to rest for about 1 day or so in the fridge, the flavour changes for the best, compared to if you started using it the very same time you’re done making it. However, I’m a hotsauce addict so I started using mine seconds after it came out of the blender. In true Caribbean style I saved my old bottles (pasta sauce etc) just for these occasions. After a good wash in boiling hot water and soap, I allowed them to dry and then I topped one with the hot sauce. Hey, I’m just doing my part to keep this earth we call home greener by reusing!

caribbean hot sauce

This sauce is very savory with a bold kick of heat as it makes it’s way around your tongue. As I mentioned above, it’s not a traditional Caribbean style hotsuace and it’s a bit runny. It makes a great topping for grilled meats, hamburgers, hot dogs and on sandwiches. I would bet my last dollar that it would also make a great dipping sauce for wings. Directly below you’ll find links to other hot sauce (pepper sauce as it’s know on the islands) recipes that I’ve done in the past.

I’d love to get your feedback or just say “hi” in the comments box below – it’s appreciated. And before I go I’d like to remind you to check out the latest cooking videos, pictures and if you’ve not already done so, join our select group on Facebook. Where we discuss all things related to the Caribbean Cooking Culture.