Review - Ellie's Lip Smacking Sauce
If you're tired of the same old, hum-drum, formulaic condiments, you may want to give Ellie's Lip Smackin' Sauce a shot. It may remind you of a half-dozen types of sauces but it's got a distinct and elaborate flavor all it's own. It's a mildly-hot, sweet, complex, explosively tangy, all-purpose condiment.
Ingredients:
Red Cayenne Peppers, Vinegar, Water, Wheat, Soybeans, Sodium Benzoate as Preservative, Wine, High FRuctose Corn Syrup, Butter, Garlic, Powder, Onion Powder, Cayenne Peppers, Red Pepper Flakes, Black Pepper, and Spices.
Aroma:
Powerful, but in a good way. It has a diverse blend of strong aromas. I sensed vinegar, onions, and maybe even a hint of wine. Not too peppery in smell.
Appearance and Texture:
Ellie's is a very watery, runny reddish/brown liquid. There were no large chunks or pieces visible, but a lot of finely-ground peppers and spices. I noticed the individual ingredients separate very quickly, so even while you're seated at your dinner table, this sauce has to be shaken up a few times to ensure everything stays mixed.
Taste Straight Up:
Lip Smackin' Sauce is is very unique, perhaps like nothing I've had before. I attempted to compare it to condiments I've eaten before as a point of reference, but came up short. While tasting it, thoughts danced through my head of what it was vaguely similar to. I noticed hints of a barbeque sauce, a vinegary pepper sauce, Arby's Sauce, a steak sauce, and even a tiny bit like Heinz 57, but it's nothing like those at all. Probably because of the vinegar and wine, this sauce inhibits a strong kick and tang to give it complexity beyond it's underlying sweetness.
Taste on Food:
I tried it both on a steak and as dipping sauce for fried chicken breast tenders and french fries. It went well enough with the steak, teetering on the borderline between being a BBQ sauce and a chile sauce. Deep down I was craving either "just" a BBQ sauce or "just" a steak sauce instead of the Ellie's, although admittedly Lip Smacking Sauce was compelling enough to keep me interested enough to want to finish every last bite. It's as if the flavor urged me to continue to eat something off the beaten path even though I wasn't crazy about the sauce.
With chicken and fries it fared better, making an admirable and compatible condiment. When eating chicken strips I always have three or more dipping sauces on the side, and I can see Ellie's being in the rotation every now and then. Consistency-wise it's a bit too runny and impractical to be used on french fries, but tastes great on the little fried potatoes nonetheless.
Heat:
Very small amount of heat that blends well with the taste. Not so much "hot" as it is "punchy" or "tangy". Maybe 1 out of 5 stars.
Closing Thoughts:
It didn't knock my socks off, but I did give it points for trying to be different. This may be good as a periodic replacement for a variety of sauces, but I personally wanted the "real thing."
You can pick up Ellie's for $6.00 a bottle at their website located at
http://www.ellieslipsmackinsauce.com. If you find you like it, you can take advantage of their buy 3 get 1 free deal.
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2009-01-08 12:48:14
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