Hot Sauces - the Americans vs. the Aussies

At a BBQ today, we ran into a showdown between who had the hotter hot sauce: the American Dave's Gourmet Ultimate Insanity, or the Australian Redback. The former is clearly made with habanero peppers (and the label has warnings to boot), while the latter is probably made with the same (it tasted like it), although it wasn't explicitly clear.

After several blind taste tests with bread (and sweat and tears of the testers - including locals who claimed to be able to eat very spicy food), the verdict was that the American sauce on the left was the hotter one, but the Australian sauce on the right was the tastier one (and certainly still blazing hot). The American one was so hot that it lingered for at least 5-10 minutes after eating just a little drop. So get the Ausssie one for a more practical taste. And if you get the American one (really just for the novelty than anything), be careful with it, and be prepared to get singed.

BTW, on a completely separate note, if you do a BBQ, try hitting up Espirito Santo (376 River Valley Road, 6256-5070), which is a great butcher that also supplies to many of the Brazilian spots on the island. They've got some pretty darned good quality meats, ranging from the ribs (get the Argentian rub - it's great salty and burnt) to the kebabs (both the lamb version as well as their signature kebabs) to the sausages (the Brazilian linguica is definitely very fatty, and the cheese knackers aren't bad). I don't have pics here, but do try them out. I'm definitely going back before my next BBQ.