Hot N Saucy Garlic N Pepperoncini
Note: This sauce appears on Season 14 of The Hot Ones.
Note: Support video available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5sW7vCDQ0Y
Pepperoncinis are another of those peppers that aficionados that prefer the pickled varieties will certainly be familiar with...or anyone who's familiar with a Greek or perhaps an Italian deli...or who has ordered a Papa John's pizza. For me, I've not ever found these to be particularly good and rather overrated, mostly delivering a huge pepper-flavored vinegar hit when bitten into and little else. The thin-walled texture I find unsatisfying, while the flavor is often bitter, but rarely there will be a bit of sweetness and even more rarely, a bit of heat, in that regard a somewhat like the much better Shishitos. So, I came into this expecting this sauce to be a complete throwaway that I planned to do mainly for coverage of the sauces on The Hot Ones show.
There are a few interesting things to note about this sauce. In the first place, this bottle was full right up to the cap, which is something I almost never see. I don't know where the actual 5 oz. mark is, in terms of volume, for the 5 oz. glass bottles, but I've lost count of how many sauces don't fill the bottle into the neck at all, let alone up to the cap. The second is the color of this sauce, which is this kind of pea soup green miasma, though it somehow winds up not unappetizing. The third is that Hot N Saucy appears to be a kind of boutique label with all of the sauces featuring the lone capital N in the middle, which is a sort of unique way of going to market, I guess. Lastly, this is yet another that really pushed the boundaries of whether something can, or more to the point, should be called a hot sauce if there is no heat.
This was the sauce in the 2 slot for Season 14, coming in behind The Hot Ones Classic, which is not a hot sauce, but here, it winds up being a decrease comparatively, even though that sauce uses the rather tame Arbol. There is no heat at all to be had here. More what we have is a very sweet garlicky and very vaguely pepper-ish sauce. Pepperoncinis are not peppers I find to have a particularly strong flavor profile and here, despite them being the lead-off ingredient, the main taste sensations are definitely sweet, followed to a lesser degree (and more in terms of aftertaste) by garlic, which is the last ingredient in the list. There is a Pepperoncini flavor here, to be clear, but it definitely takes a back seat.
One of the reasons I rarely bother with Pepperoncinis is that I rarely know what to do with them. I can't think of any regular recipes where I use them regularly and even as a side with a cold cut sandwich, for instance, it's more of a very infrequent change of pace than anything normal for me. If I got one of those jars of Mezzettas, for instance, it would take me years to finish it. I know that because a person who formerly lived with me bought one and it got to maybe the halfway point over 3 - 4 years, before I finally tossed it a year-ish after she left. I think they're ok in salads, but I'd much rather have Banana peppers...or even Jalapenos. This is the main problem with the pepper, for me, is that in all the places where I think it's ok, I'd also rather have something else. So, too, it is with this sauce. It's acceptable on pizza (as long as you like sweet sauces there) and on chicken strips, for instance, but is pretty far from the first thing I'd reach for. The flavor is fine, as far as that goes, no strong feelings one way or the other, which makes it somewhat forgettable and probably not exactly what one would want in a sauce. I will say there is nothing else out there quite like it, at least that I've had.
Bottom line: One of the more curious sauces from The Hot Ones show, a sauce that literally has no heat at all, but an abundant sweetness. I'm not sure who this sauce is for, but can't imagine too many chileheads who will be satisfied by it.
Breakdown:
Heat level: 0
Flavor: 4
Flexibility: 3
Enjoyment to dollar factor: 2
Overall: 2
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