Mango Inferno by Patter Fam

Label:

Mango Inferno from the kitchen of Patter Fam Sauces has a light and understated label. The green, yellow, and red mangos hover above some thin and pointy flames. The color scheme of the rest of the bottle follows the lead and the use of yellows, oranges and reds compliment the sauce very well. You can tell a great deal of thought went into bring the overall look of this product together.

With Pace being known for years for it’s tomato based salsas & picante sauces, and with growing desire for chiles & heat in recent years, the company has made many specialty sauces like this one, salsa verde.

Here comes Crazy Steve’s Pickles and Salsa, a young New Jersey company hatched at 11:49 am on July 17, 2009 (as each and every label clearly states!) after an extraordinarily fruitful harvest from a cucumber garden. Steve Zielinski borrowed treasured pickling recipes from his grandmother, branched off into making salsas, and only 10 months later has an extensive live of side-items and condiments.

Steve was gracious enough to send me four different products of his for me to test drive. I have to mention that while all of the salsas I reviewed are marked “insane”, a fourth heat level above mild, medium and hot, I though none of these contained extraordinary heat (I explain more below). I don’t know if this was a label mix-up or if the “insane” salsas are legitimately that mild, but if the later were true then even non-spice fans could handle these salsas with very little difficulty….

Texas Grim Reaper Corn Relish

Ingredients….Corn,Vinegar,Sugar,Bell Peppers,Onion,Celery,Water,Corn Starch,Dried Red Pepper,Cilantro,Garlic and Citric Acid….

Aroma….Right away i was reminded of the smell of my grandmothers pickled Celery.There was a great smell of corn celery and Onions that hit your right away.After a few deep breaths you can pick up the Bell Peppers and just a hint of the cilantro.At this point i could not wait to get the spoon…

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Made with the Peppadew pepper, a bright red, cherry-tomato-sized, sweet n’ spicy fruit originating from South Africa, Peppadew Mango Salsa sounds like it would be a peculiar and promising condiment and topping “on paper”, but in my opinion it’s mildly disappointing after putting it through its paces in the kitchen.

It’s not that it’s necessarily bad – it’s not, but the overall taste is only a notch or two above “hum drum”…

The origination of Pace Picante Sauce.

It started by a Texan named David Pace in 1947,

Who had a passion for the freshest tasting picante sauce that lived up to his expectations.

I’m always pleased when a local St. Louis area spicy food practitioner jumps into the arena of fiery consumables. This time out it’s Pyro Pete Sauces & Rubs based out of North St. Louis County. Recently, owner “Pyro” Pete McNees has kindly provided some of his Ultimate Salsa for me to take a stab at assessing. Will it prove to be the pentacle of salsa satisfaction as the name of it might suggest or will it be a hum-drum condiment and dip that sputters out? Read on to find out…

I’m putting my foot down: I will NOT partake in the the current bacon craze/meme/fad. If you’re unfamiliar with what I’m talking about, it’s the trend where seemingly everyone is going bonkers over bacon-flavored and bacon-themed everything. Just move two inches on the internet and you’re sure to bump into some website touting something as ridiculous as bacon-flavored Kool-Aid, bacon-wrapped bacon on a stick, or bacon-scented cologne with throngs of commentors and forum members applauding along in approval like zombies. Sure, bacon has its place in the culinary world, but there are numerous other foods and tastes I’d select anyday over these cured strips of pork.

That having been said, I still wanted to give the new Captain Thom’s Slappin’ Fat Bacon Ketchup a shot. Captain Thom Edwards usually has a good handle on what makes sauces taste superb (his Thai Monkey sauce is one of my faves), so naturally I was intrigued with what he could pull off….