REVIEW - Cambridge Chilli Farm Habanero Gold

We first discovered Cambridge Chilli Farm’s Habanero Gold Chilli Jam at the West Dean Chilli Fiesta last year. We already had an established contact with Tim, the man behind the brand but meeting him in person definitely cemented our relationship as he is a really nice man, passionate about all things chilli related and is keen to show himself in his chilli products.

Ghost Pepper 10 chilli sauce is a prime example. Extremely hot, but so tasty, Cambridge Chilli Farm’s Ghost Pepper 10 hot sauce is fantastic when used in cooking or on cheese on toast although again, this chilli sauce is not for the faint-hearted!

Cambridge Chilli Farm’s Habanero Gold Chilli Jam is great because it of course uses the habanero chilli pepper which has a very distinct flavour. It is usually one of the hottest chilli peppers out there but Cambridge Chilli Farm counteract this by using apricots and apples in Habanero Gold Chilli Jam.

Cambridge Chilli Farm’s Habanero Gold Chilli Jam is great as a glaze for pork or chicken but we have to admit that we also use it quite a lot for breakfast on a nice piece of thick toast. Cambridge Chilli Farm’s Raspberry & Chilli Jelly is also a chilli preserve that we tend to use for breakfast or afternoon tea, especially on freshly baked scones!

Cambridge Chilli Farm is a great brand that keeps going from strength to strength so make sure to be part of the original followers and get your hands on some of its Habanero Gold Chilli Jam as soon as possible so you don’t miss out!

Butt Rub at Grillstock

Gristock is fast becoming an unmissable event in the UK and is certainly the biggest BBQ and Music Festival in Bristol. Grillstock took place on the 2nd and 3rd July this year and had varied acts, cabaret and magic going on, live music and of course a hellish chilli eating competition!

We at the Devil’s Garden wanted to mention this event as one of our brands, Bad Byron won numerous awards at this year’s event. We were told us that Bad Byron was all the rage in America so we decided to try it and haven’t looked back since. The demand is very high for this spice mix and is a definite bestseller at the Devil’s Garden.

So without further ado, here are the awards that Bad Byron won at the 2011 Grillstock:

1st prize for Best Chicken, 1st prize or Best Pork Shoulder, 1st prize for Best Brisket, 1st prize for Best Ribs and overall King of the Grill! Bad Byron also won 1st prize for Best Dessert which was a crock pot chocolate cake.

Bad Byron has been around since the early 90’s so they definitely know what they are doing and have created a varied range of products since such as the Jubilee spice rub which has been specifically designed for Seafood. As Bar Byron themselves say: “A little butt rub makes everything better”, something that we can fully agree on so quickly get your hands on some of Bad Byron’s Butt Rub before stock runs out!

Lights, Camera, Action!

We visited Edible Ornamentals a little while ago and went round the chilli farm in Bedfordshire with eager eyes, admiring the gorgeous chillies all around. Now that the weather is a bit better we cannot stop thinking how good the chilli plants must look and how many Dorset Nagas, Hungarian Hot Wax, Hercules, Jalapenos and Habaneros have fully matured (not that we are jealous of course!).

Thanks to the age of media and more precisely Twitter, we were informed that Countrywise on ITV was doing a feature on the Edible Ornamentals Chilli Farm. We were of course glued to our TV set that night when the programme was showing, laughing as the presenter ate half a Dorset Naga and nearly died on camera. A lovely tomato and chilli pasta dish that was later cooked with the chillies from Edible Ornamentals made us salivate so this is a recipe that we will definitely be doing soon, using Edible Ornamentals’ Serenade chillies. Shawn and Joanna, the people behind the brand were keen to share their passion of all things chillies and we were thrilled to see that their feature ran at a time when most people are watching so we do hope that a lot of good things come out of this for them.

West Dean Chilli Fiesta is near so we will be sure to drop by Edible Ornamentals’ tent to say hello and pick out a couple more chilli plants (or ten if the boss has his own way!). Hopefully we will be able to actually get inside the tent this time as it was so crowded last year we didn’t get a chance to introduce ourselves to Shawn and Joanna. Now that we are in contact regularly thanks to Facebook and Twitter we do hope that, in the words of Humphrey Bogart “this is the start of a beautiful friendship”!

Got the Munchies?

We all have our guilty pleasures, one of the most tenacious ones being snacking on things we probably should avoid. Most people will go for crisps rather than rice crackers or chocolate instead of a banana probably because it just feels so good to be bad...

We are as guilty here at the Devil’s Garden as anyone, voicing the excuse to anybody who will listen that we just need to curb our chilli craving before gorging ourselves with fabulous chilli snacks.

When it comes to chocolate, our first pick is Dartmoor Chilli Farm’s range of chilli chocolate available in many flavours from dark to milk, orange, mint, coffee, apricot, ginger or nuts although the Chilli Pepper Company’s 72% organic dark chilli chocolate is pretty darn awesome too!

We just LOVE grabbing a bag of Dave’s Insanity Popcorn to munch in front of the telly or LapSnack Chilli Puffs. The Chilli Pepper Company’s chilli fudge is also one of our favourites, either the hot & spicy one or the ginger version.

Fired Up Chipnuts, peanuts coated in a crispy spicy shell, are definite bestsellers at the Devil’s Garden, the XXX habanero version being the most popular, closely followed by Cajun and Chipotle.

Our stock can never be big enough for our consumers of chilli nuts though. Whether you go for Hot Headz Who Dares Burns Peanuts, Hot Headz Satan’s Nuts, Dave’s Burning Nuts or Dave’s Smokin nuts, all those chilli nuts are to die for... quite literally!

The ultimate chilli snacks for those with serious chilli withdrawal have to be Blair’s Death Rain range of chilli crisps. We tend to sell the Habanero crisps by the crate as well as Chipotle although the Cheddar and Buffalo Wings are definitely popular too!

So if just like us you just can’t resist munching on something throughout the day go visit the Devil’s Garden website where you can have your pick at delicious spicy snacks!

West Dean Chilli Fiesta is near!

If there is one event that all chilli heads should attend out of all the chilli festivals that are around it’s West Dean’s annual Chilli Fiesta.

Last year’s show was pretty amazing, with around 150 stands and more than 10,000 people attending over three days. The great thing about West Dean Chilli Fiesta is that there is a little bit of everything for everyone.

Whether you just want a nice family day out or to sample every single hot sauce, spicy nuts and crisps, chilli chutney, chilli chocolate, chilli relish or salsa, chilli jam or jelly out there (and believe us, we did give it a good try!) the day is full of merriment and good spirit. Spontaneous dancing was to be found near live bands while food stands using great chilli sauces and relishes were of course part of what made the weekend so successful.

West Dean Chilli Fiesta was of course a good opportunity to see our suppliers such as Chilli Pepper Pete, Chilli Queen, Cambridge Chilli Farm or the Chilli Pepper Company which had its infamous 10 Minute Burn hot sauce taking pride of place on its stand but also to check out new chilli brands.

Although most people think of chillies as food there was a lot more to be seen at West Dean Chilli Fiesta such as a good range of hydroponics and plant foods such as Chilli Focus or Root Riot Cubes, chilli related china and textiles as well of course as chilli plants for sale. Edible Ornamentals Chilli Farm that we went to see a couple of months back were so crowded that we didn’t even get a chance to meet with the owners.

This year we shall be attending West Dean Chilli Fiesta on the 5th and 6th August with some friends who are actually quite worried that we are going to make them try chilli sauces such as Cambridge Chilli Farm’s Ghost Pepper 10 or Chilli Pepper Pete’s Dragon’s Blood! So come along and see if you can spot the boss of the Devil’s Garden there, it won’t be too difficult with a great big tattoo of flames on his left arm!

Chilli Pepper Pete - Chilli Sauce Banned

Chilli Pepper Pete has been around for a few years now and it is a brand that is mostly known for chilli sauces such as Dragon’s Blood, Sphincter Shrinker and Smokin’ Devil although it is also greatly popular for chilli products such as Chilli Pepper Pete’s Piri Piri Oil, Liquid Fire hot sauce and of course the hotter than hot chilli curry sauces that go by the name of Nagaloo and Goan to the Loo.

The latest noise around Chilli Pepper Pete though is due to the hellish Satan’s Shit Chilli Sauce which some consider to be more of a chilli paste. Satan’s Shit was one of the first Chilli Pepper Pete’s products we put on the Devil’s Garden as we knew consumers would want to try it and brag to friends and family if they lived to tell the tale...

With the festival season upon us a lot of chilli brands are keen to impress the crowds with new or established chilli sauces but Chilli Pepper Pete’s Satan’s Shit created quite a stir at the Taste of London festival as well as the Cheltenham Food Festival in the last couple of weeks when members of the public started feeling the burn a bit too intensely and had to be seen at the first aid tent. Chilli Pepper Pete’s Satan’s Shit was later banned from both shows which created even more publicity around the chilli sauce.

The last chilli sauce we heard that was banned from a chilli festival was The Chilli Pepper Company’s 10 Minute Burn Hot Sauce. People were seen to have “episodes” where they would roll themselves on the grass in fits of uncontrollable laughter. A member of the Devil’s Garden took a bit more than she should have at the Levens Hall Chilli Fiesta last year and apparently lost her hearing for a couple of minutes!

A lot of people think that chilli sauces cannot get hot enough, well there is now proof that The Chilli Pepper Company’s 10 Minute Burn hot sauce and Chilli Pepper’s Satan’s Shit chilli sauce are not to be taken lightly!

Established chilli sauce from Chilli Pepper Pete, new name!

As you might well be aware, Chilli Pepper Pete is one of the pioneer UK brands that has really made its mark on the chilli world over the years.

With chilli products under Chilli Pepper Pete’s belt such as the infamous Satan’s Shit, Dragon’s Blood, Dragon’s Slayer, Red Nagahunter or Nagaloo Curry Paste, it is easy to understand the popularity and dedication of chilli heads all over Britain and beyond for this delectable brand.

One chilli sauce that we cannot get enough of and is definitely in our top 10 of ultimate chilli sauces of all times is Chilli Pepper Pete’s Smokin’ Devil. This chilli sauce was originally called Dragon Hunter hot sauce but Chilli Pepper Pete went through a whole rebranding in 2011 so this is now called Smokin Devil.

One thing is for sure, the magic of this chilli sauce is still there. With a very specific type of cooking, Chilli Pepper Pete’s chilli sauces, chilli and curry pastes and chilli preserves, definitely have that “je ne sais quoi” that makes you go back for more.

Chilli Pepper Pete’s Smokin Devil is made using the beloved chipotle chilli pepper which is in fact a smoked jalapeno. Other ingredients include onions, grape juice, apples, pineapple, herbs and spices but this is not to be mistaken for a sweet chilli sauce. Chilli Pepper Pete’s Smokin Devil is at its best used on its own, with a good mature cheddar or mixed in with a slow cooked fresh tomato pasta sauce.

The smokiness of Chilli Pepper Pete’s Smokin Devil is what people are after as much as the heat level which is rather medium so enjoyable for a wide range of people. It’s such as versatile chilli sauce that we use it on a daily basis, even if it is just a few drops or a good glug as there isn’t anything it doesn’t go with.

So get your hands on Chilli Pepper Pete’s Smokin Devil while stock lasts! Your tastebuds will thank you!