Bitter: ⭐⭐✰✰✰
Salty: ⭐⭐✰✰✰
Sour/Tangy: ⭐⭐⭐✰✰
Sweet: ⭐⭐✰✰✰
Umami: ⭐⭐✰✰✰
Heat: ⭐⭐✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰
Quick Flavor Notes: Bright, exotic spices, citrusy, warming
Recommended: Conditional
Texture: Medium and smooth
Ingredients: Water, Vinegar, Garlic, Shawarma Powder, Salt, Chili Powder, Xanthan Gum
While I didn’t plan it this way I realized that this review follows my previous Puckerbutt review of one of their middle-eastern inspired sauces, their Harissa Hot Sauce. Having purchased a ton of different flavors from the company during one of their big sales (and unfortunately a few duplicates by mistake) I’m always impressed with the variety of flavor combinations Ed Currie comes up with. I believe that Dawson’s also makes a Shawarma Hot Sauce (and I may even have a bottle of it somewhere) so I’ll make to do a comparison to that one eventually.
My only (and perpetual) gripe with Smokin’ Ed is how intentionally obtuse he is on his ingredients labels. This particular label also looks like it was printed on an inkjet printer running out of ink, though Smokin’ Ed has switched to more professional looking labels since this bottle was produced. The label shows only vinegar, garlic, “shawarma powder”, salt and chili powder. As per usual Smokin’ Ed doesn’t disclose the peppers used (honestly he’s entirely too paranoid about people trying to steal his recipes) nor does he go into what’s involved in Shawarma Powder. Based on the color (and the flavor) this isn’t the typical spicy red or garlicky white sauce that’s served on shawarma but rather a hot sauce based on the spices used in the shawarma marinade. A shawarma marinade or spice blend usually involves garlic, coriander, cumin, and a number of warming spices such as cinnamon, clove, allspice, and ginger. Peppers may also play a part as may specialty spices of the middle east such as sumac or preserved lemon. Despite not having any oil in this sauce it is oddly creamy in texture, making me wonder if there’s some ingredient in it acting as an emulsifier. It’s medium in consistency and mostly smooth with a sweet yet slightly exotic aroma.
What initially surprised me most about Puckerbutt Shawarma Hot Sauce is how sweet it was. The sweetness isn’t the sugary-sweet type but rather the sweetness that comes from warm baking spices and what I believe to be coriander and cardamom. The flavor is very bright and citrusy with sweet floral flavors also coming towards the front. There’s a warmer bottom end to the sauce with the cinnamon also being prominent in the flavor profile. With all of the strong spices I can’t detect which chiles are used in this. There’s not a ton of chile fruit but the label also discloses it’s a powder used and not fresh chiles so of course the flavor will be subdued. There’s enough else going on with the sauce that it’s still very tasty, and a bit more heat than I’d expect from a sauce marketed specifically as “mild” with a bit of lingering burn. While Shawarma Hot Sauce has some acidity it isn’t vinegary, the acidity seems to blend with the bright citrus and dried spice flavors which take the edge off of any vinegary sharpness.
I didn’t have any shawarma handy when I first opened this sauce but I did find that it worked well with my dinner of leftover grilled pork chops the night I did open it. I tried this with some Jamaican beef patties next and found that that was a very bad move. Despite both using some similar spices in the mix the flavors of each were too strong and fought against each other. I did try this with a chicken shawarma wrap and didn’t love it nearly as much as I love the typical spicy red and garlicky white sauces that come with shawarma. My final test was using this as a marinade and grilling some skewered chicken breast chunks that I’d let sit in it for the day and that actually worked very well and was my favorite application of this sauce. The flavors still came through but weren’t overpowering and it gave a nice char to the chicken as well.
Smokin’ Ed’s Puckerbutt Shawarma Hot Sauce isn’t my favorite I’ve had from the company but it’s still tasty and does make a great marinade. As always I wish Ed would actually disclose everything that’s in his sauce – most other companies do this and they don’t have people running around copying their recipes willy-nilly. I’ll give this a conditional recommendation. The flavors are particularly strong in this sauce so that limits the applications but it does work amazingly well as a marinade.
by MagnusAlbusPater
1 Comment
Bitter: ⭐⭐✰✰✰
Salty: ⭐⭐✰✰✰
Sour/Tangy: ⭐⭐⭐✰✰
Sweet: ⭐⭐✰✰✰
Umami: ⭐⭐✰✰✰
Heat: ⭐⭐✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰
Quick Flavor Notes: Bright, exotic spices, citrusy, warming
Recommended: Conditional
Texture: Medium and smooth
Ingredients: Water, Vinegar, Garlic, Shawarma Powder, Salt, Chili Powder, Xanthan Gum
While I didn’t plan it this way I realized that this review follows my previous Puckerbutt review of one of their middle-eastern inspired sauces, their Harissa Hot Sauce. Having purchased a ton of different flavors from the company during one of their big sales (and unfortunately a few duplicates by mistake) I’m always impressed with the variety of flavor combinations Ed Currie comes up with. I believe that Dawson’s also makes a Shawarma Hot Sauce (and I may even have a bottle of it somewhere) so I’ll make to do a comparison to that one eventually.
My only (and perpetual) gripe with Smokin’ Ed is how intentionally obtuse he is on his ingredients labels. This particular label also looks like it was printed on an inkjet printer running out of ink, though Smokin’ Ed has switched to more professional looking labels since this bottle was produced. The label shows only vinegar, garlic, “shawarma powder”, salt and chili powder. As per usual Smokin’ Ed doesn’t disclose the peppers used (honestly he’s entirely too paranoid about people trying to steal his recipes) nor does he go into what’s involved in Shawarma Powder. Based on the color (and the flavor) this isn’t the typical spicy red or garlicky white sauce that’s served on shawarma but rather a hot sauce based on the spices used in the shawarma marinade. A shawarma marinade or spice blend usually involves garlic, coriander, cumin, and a number of warming spices such as cinnamon, clove, allspice, and ginger. Peppers may also play a part as may specialty spices of the middle east such as sumac or preserved lemon. Despite not having any oil in this sauce it is oddly creamy in texture, making me wonder if there’s some ingredient in it acting as an emulsifier. It’s medium in consistency and mostly smooth with a sweet yet slightly exotic aroma.
What initially surprised me most about Puckerbutt Shawarma Hot Sauce is how sweet it was. The sweetness isn’t the sugary-sweet type but rather the sweetness that comes from warm baking spices and what I believe to be coriander and cardamom. The flavor is very bright and citrusy with sweet floral flavors also coming towards the front. There’s a warmer bottom end to the sauce with the cinnamon also being prominent in the flavor profile. With all of the strong spices I can’t detect which chiles are used in this. There’s not a ton of chile fruit but the label also discloses it’s a powder used and not fresh chiles so of course the flavor will be subdued. There’s enough else going on with the sauce that it’s still very tasty, and a bit more heat than I’d expect from a sauce marketed specifically as “mild” with a bit of lingering burn. While Shawarma Hot Sauce has some acidity it isn’t vinegary, the acidity seems to blend with the bright citrus and dried spice flavors which take the edge off of any vinegary sharpness.
I didn’t have any shawarma handy when I first opened this sauce but I did find that it worked well with my dinner of leftover grilled pork chops the night I did open it. I tried this with some Jamaican beef patties next and found that that was a very bad move. Despite both using some similar spices in the mix the flavors of each were too strong and fought against each other. I did try this with a chicken shawarma wrap and didn’t love it nearly as much as I love the typical spicy red and garlicky white sauces that come with shawarma. My final test was using this as a marinade and grilling some skewered chicken breast chunks that I’d let sit in it for the day and that actually worked very well and was my favorite application of this sauce. The flavors still came through but weren’t overpowering and it gave a nice char to the chicken as well.
Smokin’ Ed’s Puckerbutt Shawarma Hot Sauce isn’t my favorite I’ve had from the company but it’s still tasty and does make a great marinade. As always I wish Ed would actually disclose everything that’s in his sauce – most other companies do this and they don’t have people running around copying their recipes willy-nilly. I’ll give this a conditional recommendation. The flavors are particularly strong in this sauce so that limits the applications but it does work amazingly well as a marinade.