One of my mom’s favourite sayings is “if don’t have something good to say keep quiet”, and this is the position I find myself in when I tested this sauce from Encona. As I write this review I realize that I have nothing good to say about this “Caribbean Creole” hotsauce, except that I love the packaging. After finding it difficult to write a positive review I decided to find out a little more about the sauce to see if there’s some sort of history behind it or to figure out what was the intention of the makers.
According to their website.(http://www.encoproducts.co.uk/content/encona-sauces-1)
We make Encona Creole Hot Pepper sauce to an authentic Bajan recipe that comes from the island of Barbados. It features a blend of scotch bonnet peppers, spices and mustard seeds, which gives this sauce its distinctive colour and flavour. You can use it as a cooking ingredient for a host of Creole-inspired dishes: like our other sauces, it is also delicious in sandwiches and as a table condiment to spice up everyday meals.
Let’s get to the actual review…
The Aroma.
What an offensive scent that greeted my nose as I opened the bottle. I’m not sure if it was the strong vinegar scent combined with citric acid and whatever spices they used, but this was not appealing to me at all. Actually our entire kitchen had the funky smell when I poured some onto a plate as I taste tested it. I knew it would take everything out of me to place this in my mouth for the taste test that awaited.
The Taste.
This is the first time since testing hot sauces that I’ve been a bit reluctant, the smell had already turned me away from the get-go. I’m a brave fella so I went ahead and got the usual spoon full I use for tasting. Again the smell hit me with a bang, followed by that strong vinegar taste that the scent hinted to when I first opened the bottle. The ingredient list stated that it contains: Water, Pepper mash (Habanero peppers, Scotch Bonnet peppers) (20%), Mustard (8%), Acetic Acid, Modified corn starch, Onion, Sugar, Salt, Turmeric. For sure you could taste the vinegar as I mentioned already, as well as the mustard.. but where was the pepper? This was more of a tart/sour tasting hot sauce than anything else.
Texture.
It’s rather thin and pours rapidly from the bottle, but at least it holds it consistency and does not separate as other sauces I’ve encountered in the past. You can tell there’s a fair amount of mustard by it’s colour and there’s also specs of pepper flakes as well as a few habanero seeds.
Final Comments.
There’s nothing to this hot sauce, maybe that’s why it’s less than $3 in stores. Heat was absent except for the strong vinegar/mustard taste. The smell is an immediate turn off and the sort of tart taste needs some work. I’d give it 1 out of 5 as far as heat goes and an overall mark of 1 (that’s the lowest mark I will give a sauce I review). I did like the packaging and label since it really stands out and font they used on the label was very easy to read (unlike others in the past).
If you’d like us to review your hot sauce or spicy food, be sure to contact us. But remember the review will be based on our opinion and will not be edited to glorify any product. Our readers depend on our honest opinions.
