Ingredients: Water, chiltepin peppers, iodized salt, spices, acetic acid, xanthan gum, citric acid, sodium benzoate (as preservative), sodium metabisulfite, monosodium glutamate, yellow 5, blue 1, and red 3.
This is the second hot sauce I’ve tried from Tijuana-based La Perrona. Interestingly I always assumed the name had something to do with a dog as dog is Perro in Spanish and the sauce has an image of a dog on the label. Looking it up however Perrona is a Spanish slang term that means “cool”, “awesome”, or “bad-ass”. So this sauce would then be named “the cool one” or “the bad-ass one”, which I suppose is better than “the dog”. La Perrona is also apparently the best-selling brand of chiltepin hot sauces in Mexico. After enjoying their roasted Chiltepin sauce I was excited to try their green version.
Other than water the first ingredient in this sauce are chiltepin peppers. Chiltepins are believed to be the first pepper domesticated by man and was the only wild chile native to the Americas. The name comes from the Aztec Nahuatl language and means “flea chile” as the peppers themselves are very small. It’s also known as the “mother chile” as scientists believe that all capsicum annuum varieties of peppers including peppers like the jalapeno, serrano, cayenne, etc, all evolved from the chiltepin through selective breeding. The chiltepin also has a unique flavor which is simultaneously earthy, citrusy, tangy, and vegetal. It’s a pepper I’ve enjoyed though I’ve never tried a green one before. Aside from the peppers this sauce has unnamed spices, acetic acid (which will form vinegar with the water in the sauce), citric acid (which increases the sour flavors), MSG, and then unfortunately a boatload of artificial preservatives and artificial colors. Something interesting about the artificial colors used are that there are some bright neon-green bits floating in the sauce that you can see in the photos though the sauce itself has a more natural green color.
La Perrona Green Chiltepin hot sauce has a medium consistency that’s clearly effected by the xanthan gum in it which gives it that artificially high surface tension that sauces utilizing it often have. It’s smooth in texture and though there are some tiny bits of something floating in it they don’t had anything texturally. The aroma is green and fresh but with an underlying chemical aroma. In terms of flavor green chiltepins don’t seem to have as unique a flavor as their riper versions do. The previous sauce I’ve tried from them, their Roasted Chiltepin, had a unique flavor this one lacks. In fact if I was told this was a green habanero and jalapeno sauce I’d believe you. It is very acidic with a sour kick both from the vinegar and citric acid, the flavor is quite bracing. There is a bit of a chemical aftertaste in this sauce as well, likely from the extensive list of artificial preservatives used. This does have the fresh “green” flavor and high acidity I look for in a verde sauce but the flavor isn’t anywhere near as natural as Marie Sharp’s Nopal Green Habanero or even Cholula Green Pepper. I’m not sure which spices are used in this, I’m guessing perhaps a bit of onion and garlic powder, but they’re not very prominent in the flavor profile. Heat level is closer to a mild habanero sauce than a jalapeno one, the chiltepins do have a kick, though it’s a quick heat that fades fast.
Since this is a Mexican sauce I tried it out first with some Mexican food. I’ve begun keeping a stock of Red’s frozen burritos in my freezer whenever Publix has them on sale and this sauce works well enough with them, though the bean and cheese or steak and cheese burritos that I prefer typically go better with a red sauce than a green. This is however fantastic with seafood, especially seafood with butter. I tried this with some takeout shrimp scampi and steamed lobster tail and the combination of La Perrona Green Chiltepin and melted butter on each was amazing, the butter tempering the aggressive acidity of the sauce and the sauce adding brightness and flavor without overpowering the seafood. This sauce is also solid when it comes to brightening up creamy pastas and soups, with plenty of acidity to cut through, though I didn’t always love its flavor in those contexts.
I’m going to give La Perrona Green Chiltepin hot sauce a conditional recommendation. The sauce isn’t bad by any means, but I’ve had other green hot sauces that taste fresher and more natural. The chiltepin pepper is this sauce’s unique angle but using the green variety the pepper doesn’t have as stand-out a flavor as it does in its ripened state. I also don’t love the amount of artificial preservatives and artificial colors used in this sauce. If you’re looking for an aggressively tangy green sauce and you see this for cheap it’s worth checking out however
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Bitter: 🟡🟡○○○
Salty: 🟡🟡○○○
Sour/Tangy:🟡🟡🟡🟡○
Sweet: 🟡○○○○
Umami: 🟡🟡○○○
Heat: 🟡🟡○○○○○○○○
Quick Flavor Notes: Tangy, acidic, vegetal
Recommended: Conditional
Texture: Medium
Ingredients: Water, chiltepin peppers, iodized salt, spices, acetic acid, xanthan gum, citric acid, sodium benzoate (as preservative), sodium metabisulfite, monosodium glutamate, yellow 5, blue 1, and red 3.
This is the second hot sauce I’ve tried from Tijuana-based La Perrona. Interestingly I always assumed the name had something to do with a dog as dog is Perro in Spanish and the sauce has an image of a dog on the label. Looking it up however Perrona is a Spanish slang term that means “cool”, “awesome”, or “bad-ass”. So this sauce would then be named “the cool one” or “the bad-ass one”, which I suppose is better than “the dog”. La Perrona is also apparently the best-selling brand of chiltepin hot sauces in Mexico. After enjoying their roasted Chiltepin sauce I was excited to try their green version.
Other than water the first ingredient in this sauce are chiltepin peppers. Chiltepins are believed to be the first pepper domesticated by man and was the only wild chile native to the Americas. The name comes from the Aztec Nahuatl language and means “flea chile” as the peppers themselves are very small. It’s also known as the “mother chile” as scientists believe that all capsicum annuum varieties of peppers including peppers like the jalapeno, serrano, cayenne, etc, all evolved from the chiltepin through selective breeding. The chiltepin also has a unique flavor which is simultaneously earthy, citrusy, tangy, and vegetal. It’s a pepper I’ve enjoyed though I’ve never tried a green one before. Aside from the peppers this sauce has unnamed spices, acetic acid (which will form vinegar with the water in the sauce), citric acid (which increases the sour flavors), MSG, and then unfortunately a boatload of artificial preservatives and artificial colors. Something interesting about the artificial colors used are that there are some bright neon-green bits floating in the sauce that you can see in the photos though the sauce itself has a more natural green color.
La Perrona Green Chiltepin hot sauce has a medium consistency that’s clearly effected by the xanthan gum in it which gives it that artificially high surface tension that sauces utilizing it often have. It’s smooth in texture and though there are some tiny bits of something floating in it they don’t had anything texturally. The aroma is green and fresh but with an underlying chemical aroma. In terms of flavor green chiltepins don’t seem to have as unique a flavor as their riper versions do. The previous sauce I’ve tried from them, their Roasted Chiltepin, had a unique flavor this one lacks. In fact if I was told this was a green habanero and jalapeno sauce I’d believe you. It is very acidic with a sour kick both from the vinegar and citric acid, the flavor is quite bracing. There is a bit of a chemical aftertaste in this sauce as well, likely from the extensive list of artificial preservatives used. This does have the fresh “green” flavor and high acidity I look for in a verde sauce but the flavor isn’t anywhere near as natural as Marie Sharp’s Nopal Green Habanero or even Cholula Green Pepper. I’m not sure which spices are used in this, I’m guessing perhaps a bit of onion and garlic powder, but they’re not very prominent in the flavor profile. Heat level is closer to a mild habanero sauce than a jalapeno one, the chiltepins do have a kick, though it’s a quick heat that fades fast.
Since this is a Mexican sauce I tried it out first with some Mexican food. I’ve begun keeping a stock of Red’s frozen burritos in my freezer whenever Publix has them on sale and this sauce works well enough with them, though the bean and cheese or steak and cheese burritos that I prefer typically go better with a red sauce than a green. This is however fantastic with seafood, especially seafood with butter. I tried this with some takeout shrimp scampi and steamed lobster tail and the combination of La Perrona Green Chiltepin and melted butter on each was amazing, the butter tempering the aggressive acidity of the sauce and the sauce adding brightness and flavor without overpowering the seafood. This sauce is also solid when it comes to brightening up creamy pastas and soups, with plenty of acidity to cut through, though I didn’t always love its flavor in those contexts.
I’m going to give La Perrona Green Chiltepin hot sauce a conditional recommendation. The sauce isn’t bad by any means, but I’ve had other green hot sauces that taste fresher and more natural. The chiltepin pepper is this sauce’s unique angle but using the green variety the pepper doesn’t have as stand-out a flavor as it does in its ripened state. I also don’t love the amount of artificial preservatives and artificial colors used in this sauce. If you’re looking for an aggressively tangy green sauce and you see this for cheap it’s worth checking out however