Stocks & Sauces

Ultimate hot sauce recipe

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Hot sauce is a permanent fixture at the Jamaican jerk pits spread across the island. My ultimate hot sauce recipe, featuring Scotch bonnets, which are abundant in Jamaica – their fruity, hot flavour is never far from a plate. Often, those unfamiliar with Jamaican food perceive it to be overwhelmingly spicy, but it’s a lesson in balance. This sauce reflects that – hot, fresh, zingy, sweet, and savoury all at once. It’s the perfect accompaniment to jerked meats, fish, and seafood alongside roasted breadfruit, plantain, or festival dumpling.

A small pot of Melissa Thompson's hot pepper sauce the recipe was originally printed in her book Motherland: A Jamaican Cookbook

Makes about 250ml

Ingredients

Method

  1. Wearing food-approved gloves, de-stem the Scotch bonnet chillies and remove the seeds if you prefer a milder sauce. Do not attempt this with bare hands.
  2. Heat the oil in a large pan over medium-low heat, then add the Scotch bonnets, garlic, red pepper, and onion. Sweat for 10-minutes, being careful not to let them colour.
  3. Next, add the thyme, pimento, pepper, cinnamon, and salt, and cook for another 5-minutes, adding a little more oil if necessary.
  4. Add the remaining ingredients, bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 1-hour.
  5. Blend to your desired consistency, pour into sterilised glass containers, and seal while hot. The sauce will keep for up to 3-months.

Back in 2014, whilst working as a journalist Melissa hosted a monthly Japanese supper club from her home, which due to tremendous success was soon taking over kitchens in pubs and cafés across London. Melissa started developing recipes for brands, cooking, barbecuing and writing about the hospitality industry. She’s drawn to international flavours, especially the distinctive taste of the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, East and SouthEast Asia, and increasingly West Africa. Melissa runs Fowl Mouths, an online food and recipe project, and is a regular columnist for BBC Good Food, as well having her work featured in The Guardian, Vittles, Waitrose Magazine and more. She also chaired discussions for The British Library and Ladies of Restaurants, given in-house talks to corporations, and consulted about race, diversity and inclusion. Melissa is a straight talker and conversation starter, skilfully weaving her commentary of tough topics through her engaging stories of food.