Salty: ✰✰✰✰✰
Sour/Tangy: ⭐⭐✰✰✰
Sweet: ⭐⭐✰✰✰
Umami: ⭐✰✰✰✰
Heat: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✰✰✰✰✰✰
Quick Flavor Notes: Fruity, tropical, fresh, creamy
Recommended: Yes
Texture: Medium and semi-creamy with some pepper bits
Ingredients: Chili Peppers (Madame Jeanette, Scotch Bonnet), Vidalia Onions, Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Garlic, Apple Cider Vinegar, Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice, Palm Sugar, Cumin
Ottowa’s Haico’s Hot Sauce is a hot sauce company that I feel deserves a lot more attention from the community. Not only does does the Netherlands-raised multi-ethnic Haico use his south and southeast-Asian heritage to inspire some of his sauces he even takes the time to grow the majority of his peppers and other produce for his sauces himself. Fitting, for a Valentine’s Day post, this sauce was inspired by Haico’s wife Angela and uses his favorite pepper, the Madame Jeanette.
Haico’s Madame begins with two delicious peppers. The Madame Jeanette pepper is native to Suriname, a small nation in northern South America known for being covered almost entirely in rainforest. Suriname was once a Dutch colony which had led to their native Madame Jeanette peppers becoming popular in the Netherlands. The pepper itself is a Capsicum Chinense variety that looks similar to a datil pepper and had a heat level similar to a habanero with a sweet flavor and notes of tropical fruits. The Scotch Bonnet needs no introduction, native to the Caribbean it’s also known for having a sweet and fruit flavor with a similar-to-habanero flavor. Vidalia sweet onions are used in many Haico’s sauces and the same is true here. The rest of the ingredients almost hint at a Mexican style flavor with lime juice, cumin, and garlic, however the extra virgin olive oil is something that’s not often seen in Mexican hot sauces, though can be seen in salsa cremosa. What you don’t see in the ingredients, and is something missing from most Haico’s sauces, it salt. This sauce like most of his lineup is sodium free. Texturally this is similar to a salsa cremosa in that it’s actually creamy and emulsified. There are some small pepper and vegetal bits inside. The aroma is tropical and fruity with the aromatics coming through as well.
Tropical flavors come to the forefront on the first taste. The madame jeanette and scotch bonnet peppers taste very fresh and fruity, something I’ve noticed from other Haico’s sauces I’ve tasted such as his Canadian Colon Cleanser. I do pick up some notes of mango and banana in this sauce from the peppers. At the same time this sauce has a rich and silky mouthfeel from the olive oil which also helps carry the fat-soluble pepper flavors, something Torchbearer is also a master of. Despite having both apple cider vinegar and lime juice this sauce isn’t very acidic. There’s enough acid to keep the flavors lively but Haico’s Madame stops short of actually being tangy. The garlic and onion add earthy grounding to the sweet fruity peppers plus combine with the sugar to add a pleasant background sweetness to this sauce. What is most surprising however is what comes in towards the end of the flavor profile when the cumin lingers. This shifts the sauce a bit from the Caribbean vibe to more Mexican one but still allows it to keep one foot in each region. The flavors are very clean which I believe is accentuated more by the lack of salt in this sauce. In terms of heat Haico rates this sauce as medium and this is one of the few cases where I feel they under-rate the heat. In terms of a chile-head scale this is a high-medium heat but for those with lower tolerance I believe this would read as very hot. As with other sauces which have an oil base this sauce coats the mouth which leads to a prolonged and more lingering burn than you get with purely vinegar-based sauces.
With bright fruity flavors backed with aromatics found in almost every cuisine this sauce was easy to pair. The lack of salt actually worked as a benefit for using this with saltier foods such as pizza and fried chicken tenders. Despite not being a high acid sauce I also really enjoyed this with fettuccini al fredo and macaroni and cheese, the big fruity flavors cutting through the richness. This sauce is also great with breakfast, again the lack of salt is great with fried ham steaks though a sprinkle of finishing salt is needed with eggs. The cumin also makes this play well with Mexican food and I enjoyed this sauce with a steak and shrimp burrito, the tropical notes being especially good with the shrimp.
Haico’s Madame gets my high recommendation. Not only is this sauce fresh and delicious it features a pepper that’s not commonly seen in hot sauces. If you’re a fan of the fruity scotch bonnet flavor and want to take it to an even higher level this is absolutely one to check out. This sauce is also all natural with no artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, or thickeners.
by MagnusAlbusPater
1 Comment
Salty: ✰✰✰✰✰
Sour/Tangy: ⭐⭐✰✰✰
Sweet: ⭐⭐✰✰✰
Umami: ⭐✰✰✰✰
Heat: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✰✰✰✰✰✰
Quick Flavor Notes: Fruity, tropical, fresh, creamy
Recommended: Yes
Texture: Medium and semi-creamy with some pepper bits
Ingredients: Chili Peppers (Madame Jeanette, Scotch Bonnet), Vidalia Onions, Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Garlic, Apple Cider Vinegar, Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice, Palm Sugar, Cumin
Ottowa’s Haico’s Hot Sauce is a hot sauce company that I feel deserves a lot more attention from the community. Not only does does the Netherlands-raised multi-ethnic Haico use his south and southeast-Asian heritage to inspire some of his sauces he even takes the time to grow the majority of his peppers and other produce for his sauces himself. Fitting, for a Valentine’s Day post, this sauce was inspired by Haico’s wife Angela and uses his favorite pepper, the Madame Jeanette.
Haico’s Madame begins with two delicious peppers. The Madame Jeanette pepper is native to Suriname, a small nation in northern South America known for being covered almost entirely in rainforest. Suriname was once a Dutch colony which had led to their native Madame Jeanette peppers becoming popular in the Netherlands. The pepper itself is a Capsicum Chinense variety that looks similar to a datil pepper and had a heat level similar to a habanero with a sweet flavor and notes of tropical fruits. The Scotch Bonnet needs no introduction, native to the Caribbean it’s also known for having a sweet and fruit flavor with a similar-to-habanero flavor. Vidalia sweet onions are used in many Haico’s sauces and the same is true here. The rest of the ingredients almost hint at a Mexican style flavor with lime juice, cumin, and garlic, however the extra virgin olive oil is something that’s not often seen in Mexican hot sauces, though can be seen in salsa cremosa. What you don’t see in the ingredients, and is something missing from most Haico’s sauces, it salt. This sauce like most of his lineup is sodium free. Texturally this is similar to a salsa cremosa in that it’s actually creamy and emulsified. There are some small pepper and vegetal bits inside. The aroma is tropical and fruity with the aromatics coming through as well.
Tropical flavors come to the forefront on the first taste. The madame jeanette and scotch bonnet peppers taste very fresh and fruity, something I’ve noticed from other Haico’s sauces I’ve tasted such as his Canadian Colon Cleanser. I do pick up some notes of mango and banana in this sauce from the peppers. At the same time this sauce has a rich and silky mouthfeel from the olive oil which also helps carry the fat-soluble pepper flavors, something Torchbearer is also a master of. Despite having both apple cider vinegar and lime juice this sauce isn’t very acidic. There’s enough acid to keep the flavors lively but Haico’s Madame stops short of actually being tangy. The garlic and onion add earthy grounding to the sweet fruity peppers plus combine with the sugar to add a pleasant background sweetness to this sauce. What is most surprising however is what comes in towards the end of the flavor profile when the cumin lingers. This shifts the sauce a bit from the Caribbean vibe to more Mexican one but still allows it to keep one foot in each region. The flavors are very clean which I believe is accentuated more by the lack of salt in this sauce. In terms of heat Haico rates this sauce as medium and this is one of the few cases where I feel they under-rate the heat. In terms of a chile-head scale this is a high-medium heat but for those with lower tolerance I believe this would read as very hot. As with other sauces which have an oil base this sauce coats the mouth which leads to a prolonged and more lingering burn than you get with purely vinegar-based sauces.
With bright fruity flavors backed with aromatics found in almost every cuisine this sauce was easy to pair. The lack of salt actually worked as a benefit for using this with saltier foods such as pizza and fried chicken tenders. Despite not being a high acid sauce I also really enjoyed this with fettuccini al fredo and macaroni and cheese, the big fruity flavors cutting through the richness. This sauce is also great with breakfast, again the lack of salt is great with fried ham steaks though a sprinkle of finishing salt is needed with eggs. The cumin also makes this play well with Mexican food and I enjoyed this sauce with a steak and shrimp burrito, the tropical notes being especially good with the shrimp.
Haico’s Madame gets my high recommendation. Not only is this sauce fresh and delicious it features a pepper that’s not commonly seen in hot sauces. If you’re a fan of the fruity scotch bonnet flavor and want to take it to an even higher level this is absolutely one to check out. This sauce is also all natural with no artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, or thickeners.