Firecracker Pepper Sauce – Authentic Trinidadian
Firecracker Pepper Sauce hails from Toronto, Canada and was born from the union of a Canadian man and his ethnically Indo-Trinidadian fiancé who were looking for something unique to give out as wedding favors. They decided on a Trinidadian style pepper sauce using a recipe from her family and the sauce was such a hit the couple decided to launch the brand. The company makes a range of four sauces all using the same basic Trinidadian recipe but with varying levels of heat through some additions – a milder Mango based sauce, their medium heat Authentic Trinidadian, a hotter Nuclear Bacchanal sauce that adds ghost peppers, and their hottest sauce called Bazodee which adds Trinidad Scorpion peppers.
I decided to start with their original recipe Authentic Trinidadian sauce. Coming in a generous 200ml (6.7 fl oz) bottle this sauce has a pleasantly chunky appearance and a texture a little bit on the thicker side of medium. The aroma is that of scotch bonnet peppers and carrots with just a hint of that vinegar in the background. The recipe is classic for a Trinidadian style sauce (or sauces from many other places in the Caribbean islands) with a scotch bonnet base plus carrots, garlic, lime juice, vinegar, and herbs.
An herb that’s prominent in Trinidadian cooking, Chadon Beni (also known as Culantro) makes a big impact in the flavor of this sauce. I’ve tried in in a hot sauce before, Bertie’s (also a Trinidadian brand), and in that case as with this it provides a very fresh herbal almost minty flavor at the very front of the palate of the sauce. Scotch bonnets also play a big role in the flavoer of Firecracker Authentic Trinidadian. Similar to the flavor of habaneros but a little bit fruitier and a little milder there’s a beautiful fruity pepper sweetness that comes in behind the Chadon Beni and mixes with the sweet carrots for a fragrant pepper and vegetable punch. The lime juice adds tartness with a hint of sweetness as well and takes the edge off of the acidity of the vinegar while the garlic and cilantro add savory notes to balance out the fruity flavor of the scotch bonnets and carrots. The result of all of it together is a sauce with a nice warm medium heat with big pepper flavor that’s balanced beautifully with herbs, aromatics, and just the right amount of natural sweetness.
Trinidadian style sauces tend to be flexible as most put the pepper forward and have just enough supporting ingredients to round out the flavor profile. Firecracker Authentic Trinidadian is no exception to this. While I tried it first with some steaks and sausages I grilled, where it worked beautifully, I wanted to try it out with some cuisine from the native area so picked up a takeout chickpea double and some saltfish and bake from a local West Indian restaurant. The sauce blended beautifully with the curried chickpeas in the double, adding a freshness and fruitiness to the curry. It was also excellent with the saltfish where the freshness of the herbs and the scotch bonnets cut through the salt and preserved fish flavors to brighten up the dish.
I can highly recommend this sauce if you’re a fan of Trinidadian style hot sauces or Caribbean sauces in general. The natural fruitiness of the peppers, hint of sweetness from the carrots, and fresh hit from the chadon beni all make this a delicious sauce that gives the island vibe without having to resort to throwing in a bunch of fruit. This sauce is also all natural with no artificial preservatives, flavors, colors, or thickeners.
Ingredients: Scotch bonnet peppers, Water, Carrots, Vinegar, Garlic, Lime Juice, Cilantro, Chadon beni, Salt
Heat Level: 4/10. This has a nice medium heat level that’s enough to uplift foods and provide a little burn
