Cooks
throughout history have often made foods and beverages more delicious
than anything they set out to make by simply letting it set longer so
that natural fermentation process can take place.
Natural
fermentation process is a bioprocess that utilizes microorganisms such
as bacteria and fungi (yeasts and molds) to produce either alcohol or
acid from carbohydrate sources. These metabolites preserve products and
create unique flavors, textures and enhanced nutrition.Fermentation
generally occurs in an anaerobic environment, meaning no oxygen is
present, which in turn means low PH.Low PH products don't have to be
refrigerated like red wine , whiskey, vinegar, pepper sauce, hot sauce,
mustard and ketchup.
Even
though hot sauces and sweet chili sauces have been around since 7000
BC, our story starts in 1970. Our cook, like most of the crew on
shrimp boats, held different jobs,such as working on deck or standing
watch in the wheel house, but cooking was his specialty and making
gravy, sauces and rubs was his forte, using recipes handed down from his
dad and granddad, who had all worked on shrimp boats.
Old
shrimp boats had a small refrigerator in the galley so keeping a sauce
in the refrigerator just didn't happen. Anything that couldn't fit into
that refrigerator had to be stored in the fish hole in the bottom of
the boat, where ice was kept to keep the shrimp cold,so they needed
sauces and dips that didn't require refrigeration: sauces that could
stay on tables doing hot days of summer and remain safe.
Of
course the crew on shrimp boats didn't eat the shrimp every meal. They
had crab and fish which was caught during a trip and this is why
sauces, rubs and dips were so important during meal time.
Basic
food items like cooking oil, lard, butter, potatoes, beans, onions,
flour, salt, sugar, dry peppers, spices, canned fruits, vinegar, tomato
sauce, pasta, mustard, ketchup and hot sauces were used in abundance.
During
one trip our cook made a sweet sauce and put it up in the cabinet to
sit. He didn't go out on the next trip so his sweet sauce had 1 week in
the summer heat to ferment. Imagine his surprise on his next trip out
when he opened it up to take a look and a taste. With this natural
fermentation process, our Lowcountry sweet chili sauce was born.
The fermentation process "makes" more flavor than you could ever get without it. Plus, it has probiotics, so it's really good for you as well.
Fermentation
tends to mellow out the heat from the chili peppers, leaving a sweet,
yet tangy taste. And that's what you get with the famous Lowcountry
Sweet Chili Sauce.
We
sweeten Lowcountry Sweet Chili Sauce with peaches and real sugar. No
high fructose corn syrup here. And it's Gluten Free. This Sweet Chili
Sauce is perfect for vegetarians and vegans alike, as it contains no
meat or animal by-products. Our Sweet Chili Sauce is available with Red
Chili Peppers (MILD) or Scotch Bonnet Peppers, which gives the sauce a
Caribbean flavor (MEDIUM) or Ghost Pepper (HOT) Lowcountry Sweet Chili
Sauce.... It's The BEST Dip, Glaze, Marinade and Salad Dressing all in
one. What goes BEST with Lowcountry Sweet Chili Sauce? This sweet chili
sauce is an old Lowcountry recipe that has been passed down for several
generations and goes with just about anything.
Here
are but a few suggestions: chicken tenders, fried rice, mozzarella
sticks, salmon cakes, stir fry, seafood kabobs, clam fritters, crab
cakes, tacos, wraps, burritos, pasta salad, fresh spinach salad or just
mixed with cream cheese for crackers or bagels
