Firewalker Mango Blaze
Hailing from Asheville, NC, which has, as of this writing, taking a beating at the hands of Hurricane Helene, we have here a very intriguing proposition. Not so content to go with a standard mango Habanero or even mango-pineapple Habanero, instead here we have a very potent dosage of citrus coming to the party, along with some garlic and "secret" spices. There are also carrots to round this out and smooth out the base and all in all, this is a pretty wild ride, with lots of interesting flavor notes along the way. This sauce also exemplifies what to me is a pretty profound difference between tart and sour, with this being the former of those two.
The one issue I have with sauces that utilize citrus is the tendency to have some difficulty placing them and I think so too is the case with this one. The recipe here looks very close to the Original Firewalker sauce, with the mangoes seeming to be the main difference, so this is by design and some of the suggestions I see on the website I honestly find a touch baffling. Eggs? With citrus? Popcorn? Ketchup? Ranch? Chex Mix? Burgers? What? Not for me, I shouldn't think...most of the flavor notes here are the citrus, along with a bit of the tropical fruits and the garlic. Neither the carrots not Habaneros contribute much to the flavor with those stronger-tasting ingredients.
I did find it very nice on some nice fried foods and I think it would do pretty well with all of those. There is a jicama citrus slaw that one can (and should) make to go along with fish tacos and I think it would be fantastic in that slaw or just slathered on the fish taco itself. For me, though, citrus goes on a fairly narrow array of foods, so flexibility here is a touch on the low side. Heat-wise, we're only dealing with Habanero, so nothing too challenging here.
Bottom line: This is a very well-crafted sauce that does a good job of presenting a composite of flavors, albeit a more citrusy-forward one.
Breakdown:
Heat level: 1
Flavor: 8
Flexibility: 3
Enjoyment to dollar factor: 7
Overall: 5
No comments:
Post a Comment