The Heat Is On: The Guyana Pepper Sauce
Okay, so you’ve heard it every Summer…someone asking for the hot sauce to spice up their barbeque. Then the deep breaths follow as they begin fanning their lips from the burn, looking for that glass of water, shocked at themselves for tearing up over a small taste of pepper. If you’re the onlooker, you’re probably chuckling on the side. If you’re the brave adventurer, you’re probably only going to laugh later. The best hot sauce makers have experienced this time and again when they’ve served up their concoctions. There are events every year across the country where people get together, research the hottest peppers, and tempt the courageous to try their brews and live to tell about it. But us mere mortals, who will not hunt the world to find the holy grail of hot peppers, might still want to have some fun in our circles. How do we compete with the masters? Well, the Guyana Pepper Sauce is it.
Guyana
The appropriately dubbed "land of many waters" is located on the northeastern tip of South America, just above Brazil. Many people mistake it for a Caribbean island, because of its proximity to Trinidad & Tobago, where the Caribbean Islands end.
Guyana has a beautiful rain forest, and to the credit of the Guyanese, they’ve managed to maintain one of the most pristine jungles in the world. Two-thirds of the country is still untouched and largely unexplored rain forest. With the beautiful Amazon weather, there are lots of opportunities for for solanine nightshades in the genus capsicum to develop ever higher levels of capsaicin. As the expression goes: the hotter the weather, the better the pepper.
Say 'wiri'-what, now?
There are quite a few hot peppers native to the Guyanese lands. Their hotness would vary based on Scoville Heat Units (units used to measure the heat generated by a pepper). One of the best (and most popular in Guyana) to make a traditional pepper sauce is the wiri-wiri. It’s a species of the Capsicum Frutescens like the chili pepper; comparable to the Scotch Bonnet. So how hot is hot exactly when talking about this pepper? Surely you’ve tasted a jalapeño, which measures approximately 2,500 – 10,000 SHUs depending on its maturity or ripeness. Based on Scoville Heat Unit measurement the wiri-wiri is a scorching 150,000 SHUs when mature – a whopping 15 times hotter than the ripest jalapeño. Now is it the hottest pepper in the world – no. We leave that to peppers like the Bhut Jolokia from India, measuring in levels of 1,000,000+ SHUs. Why? Because we aim to make a flavorful pepper sauce and not pepper spray. Though I must say I've seen amazing things done with the ghost chilli to rave reviews. Now with the wiri-wiri you will feel the heat, taste the flavor, and still live to tell the tale. So if you’re looking to climb to the top of the backyard barbeque throne with a home-made pepper sauce to rival the pit masters, the wiri-wiri pepper in a good Guyana pepper sauce may be just what you’re looking for.
The Ingredients
· wiri-wiri peppers (1 cup, 8 oz.)
· 1 Onion
· 1 Clove of Garlic
· ¼ large Ginger Root
· ½ cup/4oz. of Honey Mustard
· 1 tablespoon of Vinegar (preservative)
The Sauce
Step 1: Wash the peppers and remove the stems. Peel and wash the onions and garlic cloves. Remember to peel the ginger root as well.
Step 2: Place all ingredients in a food chopper and then add the honey mustard with approximately one to two tablespoons of white distilled vinegar. Cover and blend. This can make approximately 2 cups of pepper sauce. The honey mustard can be improvised to your taste. The vinegar acts as a preservative.
Step 3: Place in a container. A glass jar is most likely the best storage for this pepper sauce and for lasting freshness keep in the refrigerator when complete.
Note: you don't need a super-expensive food processor to do this. My favourite is the mini prep plus because it packs a pretty heavy punch. Having burned through multiple choppers this one finally made the cut, has held up for 3 years, & is still going like new. But any little chopper that holds approximately 16 ounces should do the trick in one easy step.
Yes, it comes in mild...slightly.
The secret to any pepper’s heat is in the seed (or rather the pith surrounding it). To make a milder version of this pepper sauce, simply remove the seeds before blending with the rest of the ingredients ingredients. Be careful, though: because the wiri-wiri is 15 times hotter than a jalapeño, removing the seeds will not tame the pepper. Removing the seeds only makes it slightly milder than its full 150,000 SHUs. So choosing to inflict this little pepper on your dinner guests might just be a case of ‘go hot or go home’.
One last tip: water is not enough to cool the tongue after eating this pepper. Milk (100% whole milk, not skim or light) will become the nectar of the gods if you need to ease the burn quickly and effectively. Have fun and good luck.
Other Guyanese Recipes
© 2011 Guyana Masala
Comments
Whoever said that de-seeding the pepper makes this more mild is wrong. The heat is not in the seeds. (it's actually mostly in the placenta - the part that attaches the seeds to the outer skin) I keep my seeds for future grows, and my sauce is still full force hot.
The recipe says "1 ginger" How much ginger is that?
Great advice.
Lol I took the jar out off the fridge opened it put a table spoon in it and said to my son in law not to eat my chillie sauce the went back to the fridge like I forgot something and the dam fool fell for it and took a heaping tablespoon and swallowed it before he got caught
Lol he drank 3litre of milk and cried and sweated for about 3 hours.
Good info. I just got some of the seed for these peppers in a seed swap. But storing hot pepper sauce in the fridge will lower its heat unpredictably--sometimes just a bit, and I've seen it lower some pepper sauces to no heat at all. If you don't like the heat level, you might store it in the fridge and test it after a day. If you like it hot, just keep it out of the fridge-it will keep fine with the vinegar in it.
My daughter brought me back a coffee jar fresh from the market when she was in Guyana last summer. She said the locals called them cherrie peppers and some of my daughter friends ate the and just about passed out. She said dad would love this. She was so right ot goes great with everything especially wild game meat.
First time I've seen this pepper. The wiri-wiri looks like a cherry or a cherry tomato! I like spices and I'm curious to try this. Thanks for posting. Up and interesting. :)
I am trying to locate seed for the authentic wiri wiri pepper to grow for a friend with a Guyanese husband. Any ideas where? I want to be sure it is the real deal wiri wiri, and so many I have found have been declared "nope, that's not it" by his mother. ;-) Any hints?
The wri wri pepper is one of my favourites.It's beautiful colours of red and orange are attractive and the flavour is enriching in curries, stews, dhall roti,chowmein, black pudding souse, cookup rice;infact, most savoury dishes.I am always using it and I agree it's very hot but to create a mild heat, just deseed the pepper.I am not bother about the heat,I simply love the unique flavours and the smell it gives off during preparation and cooking ,wonderful!!
This is the best article I've read so far on wiri wiri peppers. The transformed taste of the crushed pepper in the vinegar/garlic based pepper sauce lingers on the taste bud as a gift from heaven.
Summer is coming & it is on! Time to get this pepper sauce rolling. I can't wait.
LOL!!! First I have to say your writing style is excellent. I was captivated into reading the entire article after the first few sentences. Usually I'm scanning for the recipe & ingredients but this had me not just hooked, but laughing too. I will absolutely be trying this one out. Look out backyardigans.
benimse nedense hiçbir ?eyden de de de her bir newdense
lolzz at those poor suckers who cant take the heat. I'm from Trinidad, and the 7 Pot pepper is WAAAYY more spicy than Wiri Wiri. But yeah, Wiri Wiri's are good peppers to make pepper sauce with =)
Wow... very hot Hub. I enjoyed reading it. Now I know what wiri looks like too. :)
I just came back from Guyana, and I brought back some very hot pepper sauce that my sister made for me in Guyana, I intend to add more onions and peppers and pickles to mild it down a bit.
This article is a reminder of what I miss about my beautiful homeland. It takes me back to the days when I would watch Olga cooking in my grandmother's kitchen. Fresh bread permeating our home was the only way to start the day. Wonderful article. Keep them coming.
I like the hot stuff. This is a good thing to make.
This might be too hot for my taste - but still made very good reading. I did not know there was a Scoville Heat Unit.
My mum always makes pepper sauce - it has a special place in her kitchen! She said that they do this in Guyana so that they do not have to cook with pepper, yet adults can still enjoy pepper on their food. Lovely, unique hub.
This looks really fun...cool.
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