Gringo Bandito (Green) Hot Sauce Review

Gringo Bandito (Green) Hot Sauce

I may as well just come out and say it. The comparisons here to El Yucateco are obvious. Like EY, the red sauce is the far more abrasive of the two and the green is somewhat hotter, though only slightly here. It is also on a very definite slow build and takes a considerable time to work up a lather. I suspect they are using very mild Habaneros as the taste there is very smooth and almost only in passing. Unlike EY, the red is probably the better tasting of the two here, though, in that I would consider buying it again whereas the green sauce of Mr. Holland is reminiscent, in several respects, including color, of more of a tomatillo sauce, though there are no tomatillos listed in the ingredients.

This one is much less flexible than the red sauce, perhaps predictably and it's best with one of the white meats, either chicken or pork. I suppose you could also use it on a white fish, but there are much better alternatives there. It's mild enough that it may not get noticed on other foods with stronger tastes unless and until you use quite a lot more of it, almost enough to then interfere with the flavor, if it's not one of those two meats. It also works better if you have a Mexican-based dish, of course.

When you do get enough to get a taste of it, there is a smoothness and a taste that reminds me most of a spiked tomatillo sauce, which isn't necessarily unpleasant, but once again, think of how many things you use tomatillo sauce on. If you wouldn't use it on a given food, basically don't use this as it will either clash or disappear. In point of fact, making tomatillo sauce with a hefty dose of this is probably the best use of it I can think of. I think I got this for a bit over a buck and at that price, certainly is a respectable, if not solid, deal, but I don't imagine I'll be repeating this one.

Bottom line: Again, we have a fairly well-crafted sauce, albeit one that is extremely limited in use. This one is several notches below the competition in this category, falling well short of either El Yucateco Green or the Serrano Salvation sauce, which are both runaway winners.

Breakdown:

            Heat level: 4
            Flavor: 5
            Flexibility: 3
            Enjoyment to dollar factor: 3

Overall: 4