Pain Is Good Jamaican Hot Sauce Review

I thought I would follow on from the review of Levi Roots with Pain is Good Jamaican Hot Sauce. Each bottle of Pain is Good range from the USA comes with the same distinct labels of someone in pain enjoying the wonderful sauce inside. I like this shape of bottle for any sauce and even the label comes with a mini story:

"In the jungles of Jamaica, far from the soft, white beaches and luxury resorts, there's a small shack with a small garden. In the garden, Scotch Bonnet and Habanero peppers are grown. In the shack, jerk sauce is made with them. In the mouths of those who eat it, a strange voodoo begins to take hold, consuming the body, mind and soul in a fiery, hypnotic euphoria. In this bottle is that sauce. In this world there is no sensational quite like it"

This hot sauce has classic Jamaican seriously hot flavour, but with plenty more to offer than cheap imitations. The heat comes from the powerful habanero pepper alongside a sharp twang from pineapple juice and finally jerk seasoning giving the characteristic Jamaican taste you expect.

I tried this sauce for the first time in August 2011 in a new chilli shop in Brighton run by Chilli Pepper Pete. On first taste I was a little disappointed as there was definitely Jamaican flavour but it just lacked something. I bought a bottle to experiment with and quickly learnt that this sauce comes alive when added to chicken for a classic Jerk style dish... obviously with rice and peas!

Adding Pain is Good Jamaican Hot Sauce to simple dishes like good old cheese on toast is a definite winning combo too, (you will never use worchestershire sauce again) A few dollops in your bolognese also brings it alive from the sale old dish. Generally this sauce appears to go better with cooked dishes rather than as a dipping sauce. However it is a great one to have in your fridge to add a twist to many dishes to surprise your guests and sometimes even yourself when you re-heat the next day and forget you have added hababeros!

Pick up some Pain is Good Jamaican Hot Sauce from Scorchio  by clicking here clicking here



There are many other bottles in the range so pulling together a set will make a great gift for any chili head. click on one of the pictures below to pick up a bottle of a different flavour

Pain is Good - Batch #114 Sweet Caribbean Jerk Screamin' Wing Sauce

Pain is Good - Batch #164 Honey Cayenne Mustard Sauce

The Green Chile takes a hot ride into space by NASA

Check out this video link below. A project to roast chile in space is one of three dozen experiments by New Mexico school kids and college students that has lifted off on a NASA-funded flight travelling 70 miles into space to bring chili heat to an all new level.

Chili in Space

Home Grown 2011: Chilli Grow Update

Its almost full harvest time here for my chilli crops! I have been testing this year for the first time the chiligrow from greenhouse sensation. I started with a store bought Hungarian Hot Wax, home grown Jalapeno and finally my Krakatoa chili plant is in its third year picked up from the west dean chilli fiesta which was looking on its last legs. My last update from July showed very health plants and as you can see below at the en of August each plant is looking full,  healthy and most importantly full of chilli's! Each plant continues to fruit still, I have decided to leave as many of the chilli's on as possible to get really ripe fruit this year rather than picking them for a larger crop.

I met the nice folk at Greenhouse sensation at this years west dean chilli fiesta and they were very friendly. The even gave me some fresh chili peppers and and chilli chocolate just for being a customer! I can whole heatedly recommend picking yourself up a chilli grow for your back garden. Whether you are a newbie, seasoned grower or just after a better crop with a bit less effort the chiligrow. Ill be picking up another one or two units for next year definitely.

Above is my mini chili greenhouse made with a number of spare bricks and a cold frame plonked on without the aid of the chilli grow these have done well due to late starts and not enough loving care they are a little smaller with less fruit.

 The chilli pepper nasu above i fed with the leftover chemicals for the chilli grow water reservoir and as you can see since stripping the plant bare from chillis in July i have a full sent i can harvest again already for my next meal!

Can you find any padron peppers in the supermarket this year? i cant, above I have a couple of padron plants I hope to get at least one meal from and a pyramid chilli plant where most of the peppers are ripening nicely ready to be preserved

Lastly for the veggie gardeners among you that grow chillis on the side I thought I'd include a picture of this years onion crop the will be filling my fajitas and spicy meals until the end of the year. 

I Hope your season has been successful too, ill try and post a picture of my harvest before I eat them all

Caribbean Food Made Easy Cook Book Review

Levi Roots has now become part of everyday food with some of his products after his successful Dragons Den appearance. I have met Levi and his son on a number of occasions at various food festivals and chili events round the county. I have to be honest and say that I don't like his famous reggae reggae sauces even though I have a signed bottle on my shelf! However I can say that his cook book is great. In the BBC2 program, Caribbean Food Made Easy, Levi Roots travels around the UK and the Caribbean and reveals how delicious Caribbean food can be prepared at home with easy to prepare, mouth-watering recipes using fresh, healthy and readily available ingredients. The show consisted consist of four 30 minute shows demonstrating 3-4 dishes per program. The book that you get accompanying this mini show includes 100 delicious Caribbean recipes, including all of those that appear on the TV program.

The book wonderfully colorful and well illustrated with a nice introduction to the common ingredients in Caribbean cooking at the front of the book easing you into the recipes ahead. The recipes are divided into several sections like: one pot & suppers, fish and seafood, beach and street food, drinks and deserts. The use of fresh ingredients such as pineapple and hot scotch bonnet really bring this food to life is you are willing to experiment. I can definitely recommend the Jamaican pork chops and sticky jerk wings with sugared oranges!

Pick up a copy of this scotch bonnet laden recipe book from amazon by clicking here of the picture below and get some fruity Caribbean food into your regular cooking

Why not add some authentic caribbean hot sauce to your food too by clicking Ned's Old Time Hell Hot Pepper Sauce here or on teh picture above to get a bottle from scorchio.