Our latest obsession at the Devil’s Garden is experimenting with spices in our food, especially the latest available from The Chilli Pepper Company such as The Flaming Peppercorns.
The great thing about peppercorns is that instead of having bland over-powdered run of the mill (pardon the pun!) pepper sitting in a container and therefore losing its potency and flavour over time you get the best of the peppercorn, freshly crushed (we have a small marble pestle and mortar but also use a pepper mill when pressed for time) and so fragrant that usually half of what you would normally use is enough. We were very excited to hear that the Chilli Pepper Company had just won The Hybrid Pepper Award for Innovation and second place for Unique Dry Spice when producing their Flaming Peppercorns.
As soon as these came to the Devil’s Garden office we tried them mixed with scrambled eggs and we immediately understood why they deserved such a name! Infused in Bhut Jolokia vegetable oil, these unique chilli peppercorns are to die for and so hot that we usually only need 3 or 4 per person so a 60g bag of Roasted Chilli Peppercorns from The Chilli Pepper Company will definitely last you a while!
Soon after trying the Flaming Peppercorns we tried The Chilli Pepper Company’s Chipotle Chilli Flakes. For the same reasons as explained above we usually prefer using whole dried chillies such as the ones available from Hot Headz or Dartmoor Chilli Farm but the chipotle chilli flakes from the Chilli Pepper Company are really well worth the detour.
Instead of a few flakes drowned in chipotle chilli powder to bulk things up these are 100% pure chipotles (or smoked jalapenos) coarsely crushed so that when looking at the bag closely you can really see all the bits of the whole dried chilli. The quality of the chipotle chilli flakes is really superior ensuring that your meal is suitably flavoured with only a few flakes.
A Turkish condiment also produced by the Chilli Pepper Company really intrigued us. Kirmizi Biber is widely used in Turkish cooking as it is an incredible versatile mix of spices. Hot chilli peppers have been salted and dried to form a base for this spice mix along with sweet red peppers, the lot then being rubbed with olive oil and roasted for a few hours until a delicate balance between flavour and heat has been reached. This Kirmizi Biber from the Chilli Pepper Company has really transformed numerous dishes from soups to pasta and even sandwiches, especially when mixed with a little mayonnaise or mustard strangely!
But if you want to go even further East then just try The Chilli Pepper Company’s Indonesian Seven Seas Spice. Not an obvious blend of spices and dried chillies, this spice mix uses coriander, cumin, celery seeds, cloves, green cardamom and cassia bark (which is a touch cinnamon-y) as well as red chillies. This Indonesian Seven Seas spice from The Chilli Pepper Company is just fantastic when added to stews and curries. We have also tried it in savoury muffin and even freshly baked bread and it adds a great depth of flavour and heat of course!
Another spice that we use a lot from the Chilli Pepper Company is Berbere Spice which is a key ingredient in African cuisine. We really have a lot of fun letting our tastebuds guess which spice is in turn taking over our whole mouth between fenugreek, ginger root, coriander, allspice, cloves, cardamom and Ajowan seeds (similar to parsley) along with red chillies. We feel that this mix of spices and chillies is best used in meaty stews although it brings a certain depth to steamed fish and vegetables which is great news for those having to lose a few pounds but still want to eat flavoursome food which this Berbere Spice from The Chilli Pepper Company certainly brings!
A lot of spices are available out there but we feel The Chilli Pepper Company have got it just right, bringing a base of chilli spices that constitute a very good base for any household!
Ivor is the Director of The Devil’s Garden and an all round chilli geek, he loves everything spicy and his chilli plants are like children
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