We Found the One Hot Sauce That'll Perfectly Pair With Your Holiday Spread
The snow is falling and the fire is on. You and your family are gathered around a dressed table full of Grandpa's famous roast beef, your mom's mashed potatoes, turkey, rolls, stuffing, ham, casserole, and whatever the hell figgy pudding is. The spread looks complete, but I’m here to tell you that that couldn't be further from the truth, idiot. The food may all taste wonderful—or not, depending on who was in charge—but you're missing something every feast needs: spice. Instead of playing it safe, as the old holiday adage goes, “jingle bells, Batman smells, put a hot sauce out on Christmas, you coward.”
But which sauce to choose? I know you're not about to show up with a sriracha or Tabasco in hand. No, your sauce must be calculated to perfectly pair with the holiday trimmings Nana worked so hard to prepare. And we’ve got a sauce with just enough kick to spice things up, but not send your auntie into cardiac arrest.
The fine purveyors of all things spice over at Heatonist sourced a wonderful piri piri hot sauce that I recommend you put dead center on the dinner table. Heartbeat's Heatonist #4 Lion's Mane Piri Piri has a great roasted smokeyness with elevated flavors that'll improve upon your roast beef, turkey, potatoes, steak, or anything else on the table. It is ranked a 5/10 on Heatonist's heat scale, but tastes a little milder than that, with ingredients like red bell peppers, garlic, paprika, habanero, lemon juice, and lastly, organic lion's mane mushroom powder.
Christmas meals traditionally consist of roasted and glazed meats, buttery, starchy breads and potatoes, and casserole-d vegetables with heavy hits of rosemary, cinnamon, garlic, and often cranberry or citrus. The Lion's Mane Piri Piri uses its garlic-y and earthy mushroom base to complement that flavor profile, uplifting what is usually a pretty bland holiday meal. And while hot sauces are vinegary by nature, this one masks its vinegar content so it doesn't drastically overpower the meal. Sure, the heat level may not be up to a hot sauce connoisseur's level, but that's what makes it perfect for a traditionally not-spicy meal. The sauce hits the subtle heat level that many hot sauces, especially now, forfeit for intense heat and maximum pain.
While a Christmas hot sauce may be unconventional, the Lion's Mane Piri Piri marks such a good balance your taste buds can't afford to not have it as an option on the table. Plus, if you love it, it also tastes great with eggs and hash browns on Christmas morning. Just to be clear though, it is hot sauce, so maybe warn Gam Gam before she douses her green bean casserole and needs to nurse a bottle of milk the rest of the evening.
You Might Also Like