Building A British Hot Sauce

Boring. That could sum up the last two weeks in England. The wife has been out and about all over the world and I have been holding down the fort. The weather here has finally started to come around and its already time to start mowing the lawn.

Left to my own devices, I was craving spicy food. No sense trying to go out and find spicy food here, I had to make my own.

Here is my recipe for British-inspired hot sauce/marinade:

• About 100 chile de arbol peppers, stems removed.
  
• 3 Scotch Bonnet peppers (or more, I should have had more!)
• 4 cloves garlic
  
• Lots of Marmite. Seriously, lots. A whole jar might be about right.
  
• 1/4 c. dry Coleman English mustard
  
• 1/2 c. raisins
• 1/2 c. vinegar
• Mix and match chile pepper from the Turkish bazaar.
• Allspice, whole, maybe a tablespoon.
  
• A good splash of good, smoky grappa from Rome. Trust me, this was perfect.

Steep chile de arbol peppers in hot water for about an hour. Remove stems from Scotch bonnets. Mix Coleman's with cold water to make a paste and let it sit for about 15 minutes. Put the allspice in a dry pan and toast over medium-low heat until fragrant, then crush in a mortar and pestle. Throw everything in a good blender and blend for a while. Season to taste with salt and Marmite. Pack in old bottle. Slather on Pig-in-a-Box pork shoulder chunks, broil until brown and your eyes burn. Serve with dairy products and more grappa!

The end results were excellent and the hot sauce has proved to be good on most everything with meat in it. Good just as salsa for chips, too.

Cheers!