Review - Black Mamba Chilli Venom Hot Sauce
Digg
Share
I always love it when I get review products originating from destinations such as Africa (okay, to a large part of the world it may be hum-drum, but to Americans it can seem exotic). Although chile sauces from that part of the globe are no doubt tweaked to appeal to a Western audience, there's still a spirit of adventure that courses through each bite when their product is applied to them.
Today's review item is called Chilli Venom Hot Sauce created by Black Mamba Foods from Swaziland (just for clarification to the novices out there, this should not be confused with CaJohn's Black Mamba extract sauce). Yep, as I hinted at before, there is something a touch exotic about this, but at the same time it possesses a familiar, comfortable quality that I quite liked...
Ingredients:
Snake Eye Chillies, gnarled ginger, vicious garlic, vinegar, lemon juice, spices, sugar and salt
Aroma:
3 out of 5. It has a pretty mean bite (okay, I promise I won't do too many puns on the snake theme) from the garlic with a smidgen of chile pepper and vinegar rounding out the scent. I can't detect too much else, such as any sweet elements.
Appearance and Texture:
4.5 out of 5. Black Mamba Chilli Venom is rather appetizing to look at with a lucious, natural orange hue interspersed with greenish spice flakes. There are also uncountable, tiny bits of garlic and ginger floating in the sauce.
It's consistency is meaty and thick, and has wonderful clingability to foods. Thumbs up to Black Mamba for not "watering down" their product too much.
Taste Straight Up:
4 out of 5. With its strong garlic and chile pepper taste and added backdrop of vinegar, lemon juice and ginger, this would make an excellent Asian hot sauce.
At first lick I sensed fresh ginger and garlic and a lovely chile flavor, with the tartness of vinegar peeking through. A dual stab of sweetness and saltiness followed up quickly, with the expected heat from chile peppers kicking in at about the 5 second mark. There almost was an onion-y taste bubbling up to the surface, so I wonder if onion powder was used in this and listed in the catch-all "spices" classification.
After a few more samplings of Chilli Venom, I noticed that in addition to a pleasing, almost tomato-esque sweetness there was a crisp savoriness that I liked. Because of this I thought that it began to straddle the lines between being an Asian-type condiment and an Italian sauce.
Taste on Food:
3.5 out of 5. I decided to go the Italian route and try this in a pasta dish with an alfredo sauce. The Black Mamba Chilli Venom complimented the food very well and added an extra garlicky and pungently peppery kick.
I think this does admirably with Chinese food as well. Egg rolls are dynamite when dipped into Chilli Venom.
If there was any problem with Black Mamba Chilli Venom, it's that I didn't find it high on the addictiveness scale. After eating a lunch or supper with some of this sauce, I quickly tired of it and didn't despite to have it again for another couple of weeks. I simply wouldn't be able to eat this regularly.
Heat:
On a heat scale of 1 to 5, this would clock in somewhere around a 2.5. The heat scale on the bottle has it rated an 8 out of 10, but I think it's the burn level of an average serrano pepper sauce. While it may give the impression of being powerfully potent, it's the added push from the dominant garlic and the twangy vinegar giving it an extra spicy taste. If you like these ingredients in moderation, then use Chilli Venom sparingly.
Label and Packaging:
3 out of 5. I found this clean, sleek and easy to look at but it may be a touch on the plain side. Nonetheless, it would be fairly easy to identify on a store shelf.
It appears to be about the same size as a standard 5 oz. woozy bottle. The measurement on the label says 125 ml, and according to Google the conversion from metric to English units comes out to be about 4.2 fluid ounces.
Overall Rating:
I think with the correct food pairings, this may be able to make your meals really sing.
Although the Black Mamba website at http://blackmambachilli.com is currently under construction, you should still bookmark it for future reference. If you crave heavy garlic sauces with a sweet balance, this may be right down your alley.
Related Articles:
Spicy Food Reviews - Hot Sauce Reviews, Hot Snacks, Hot Wings, Seasonings, BBQ Sauces, Condiments, and More
Comments
2012-01-25 11:03:30
Add Your Comment: