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hot-sauce Kato's Island Sauce

Okay. I finally got to try this one over the weekend. Very interesting. To me there are two basic (I know I'm over-simplifying here) types of sauces: those that feature the pepper varietal as the main flavor, and those that are a blend of seasonings, creating a unique flavor, with the pepper incorporated into the mix.
This sauce falls into category 2. I can only think of one other sauce as different as Island Sauce, and I am not sure if they are making that one any more (shame).
This sauce boasts a Caribbean flavor. It doesn't disappoint. I would take it a step further, though, and say that it is also remniscent of the flavors of India and Thailand. I found this curious, since curry isn't listed in the ingredients. The overall flavor, though, seems to lean towards a curry type flavoring.
This sauce would go well on a jerk chicken sandwich, but would also compliment Pad Thai, or similar dishes. While not the hottest of sauces available (my wife tells me this is true of all but the hottest) it more than makes up for it in the flavor department. It's not all about heat anyway.
Great sauce, Mick. I will be a repeat customer. Great service, as well.

Josh
 
Josh

The island sauce was developed as a gilling sauce for seafood in the beginning we are also big fans of all those cusines and tried to incorparate as many flavors as possible and came up with the island sauce liked the way it tasted on our catch.
So if you get the chance try it on fish or shrimp on the grill it's still is 1 of our favorite sauces on fish. As for the ingredients we didn't want to list every little item so we just stated them as island spices

Glad you found it appealing & thank you for your order been a pleasure

Mick
Kato's
 
kato's has some good stuff

josh, i agree. "interesting" is important these days. mango, peach, mustard - ubiquitous hot sauce ingredients. often necessary ingredients, to be sure, but come on! let's crank things up in an epicurean way!

a funny name or flashy lable does not a good hot sauce make!!! to actually taste a sauce and go "MAN, now THAT's tasty and different" -- isn't that what it's all about!?!?!

i recently tried kato's island and meaner greener sauces myself and am here to tell you, MAN NOW THAT'S TASTY AND DIFFERENT!!!

it's all about the lesser used (ie interesting) ingredients, imho. the island sauce is curry heaven, and the green sauce is GREEN tasting too! tomatilloes and cilantro....mmmmmmm.

INTERESTING ingredients. my new kick!

the heat of both of kato's sauces is JUST PERFECT - not so hot that you're gasping and can't taste anything else, but hot enough to leave a bit of an afterburn that mingles nicely with whatever you are eating/drinking.

i can handle heat with the best of the macho pepper crowd, but that doesn't mean i want to slobber and drool insanely over a meal. (i've been known to eat datil peppers while sipping a cold belgian beer)

that perfect balance of heat and flavor - nirvana when it happens! kato's has it!

good gawd, i sound like an ad. i'm not, i swear! i just really like kato's sauce! (and this from an avid datil sauce afficianado)
 
Re: kato's has some good stuff

datil paddle said:
josh, i agree. "interesting" is important these days. mango, peach, mustard - ubiquitous hot sauce ingredients. often necessary ingredients, to be sure, but come on! let's crank things up in an epicurean way!

a funny name or flashy lable does not a good hot sauce make!!! to actually taste a sauce and go "MAN, now THAT's tasty and different" -- isn't that what it's all about!?!?!

i recently tried kato's island and meaner greener sauces myself and am here to tell you, MAN NOW THAT'S TASTY AND DIFFERENT!!!

it's all about the lesser used (ie interesting) ingredients, imho. the island sauce is curry heaven, and the green sauce is GREEN tasting too! tomatilloes and cilantro....mmmmmmm.

INTERESTING ingredients. my new kick!

the heat of both of kato's sauces is JUST PERFECT - not so hot that you're gasping and can't taste anything else, but hot enough to leave a bit of an afterburn that mingles nicely with whatever you are eating/drinking.

i can handle heat with the best of the macho pepper crowd, but that doesn't mean i want to slobber and drool insanely over a meal. (i've been known to eat datil peppers while sipping a cold belgian beer)

that perfect balance of heat and flavor - nirvana when it happens! kato's has it!

good gawd, i sound like an ad. i'm not, i swear! i just really like kato's sauce! (and this from an avid datil sauce afficianado)

My taste depends on my mood. The sauce I made for myself was about 2 parts habaneros to 1 part all the other ingredients. I guess it's pretty hot, but it is flavorful, too, since I used all fressh peppers out of my garden.
I'd like to try Datils with a beer sometime. Hard to come by in TN, though.
Island Sauce is very interesting. It is very different. The only sauce I can think of that is as different is called Down Island Dexter's 911 Hot Sauce. Talk about an interesting blend of flavors. I haven't seen it lately while in Hilton Head, so I don't know if they make it still, or are still in business.
I collect hot sauces as well as eat them, and I almost never buy a sauce because of a cute name. I like regional sauce, and those made in small batches. I like to try the sauces I collect, so flavor is important. That being said, I do like heat, though. I just finished a bottle of 100% Pain (Original Juan) very tasty, but it does make ya sweat a bit...
Thanks for your input.

Josh
 
Josh,

Your sauce attempt sounds fantastic would love to try some any chance? We would pay for your shipping or we could trade for this really good all natural hot sauce we get from Austrailia.(Horrible Haggis's Pleasure & Pain) I remember the 1st time we met Haggis he got kicked out of the national fiery food show for daring his customers to snort the pleasure & pain was to smart for that.
also I'll throw in some more of our smoked chile powder

Thanks again for the review

Mick
Kato's
 
kato said:
Josh,

Your sauce attempt sounds fantastic would love to try some any chance? We would pay for your shipping or we could trade for this really good all natural hot sauce we get from Austrailia.(Horrible Haggis's Pleasure & Pain) I remember the 1st time we met Haggis he got kicked out of the national fiery food show for daring his customers to snort the pleasure & pain was to smart for that.
also I'll throw in some more of our smoked chile powder

Thanks again for the review

Mick
Kato's

If I can figure out how to package it so it wouldn't leak, I'll send you some. It's basically the recipe of Belinda's (as per Dave Dewitt's web site, pepperfool.com) Although I did add some extra lime, used apple cider vinegar instead of white vinegar, added a mango, and about 1 sq inch of ginger root, as well as a tbs or two of powdered mustard.
In all honesty, I would be embarrassed to send this to a sauce manufacturer with years of experience. I like it. In fact, I'm eating a turkey sandwich with about aa tbs spread on it right now. Yum. But it is very simple. The main flavor you get is fresh habanero. Let me ponder it, and I'll get your address.
Would you rather me contact you here, or through your website?

Josh
 
Josh

Either way will be fine. As for being embarassed no need as we have held Amatuer sauce competions in the past and have tried many homemade sauces and from what I've learned simple is very good. Myself I like the taste of just the chiles. We just try to make products that appeal to a large audience that's why our products seem a little on the tame side.

We have had entries that were little more then a lot of chiles and some acid in our past events and I found them good.So by the sounds of things your saucesounds good.

Mick
Kato's
 
kato said:
Josh

Either way will be fine. As for being embarassed no need as we have held Amatuer sauce competions in the past and have tried many homemade sauces and from what I've learned simple is very good. Myself I like the taste of just the chiles. We just try to make products that appeal to a large audience that's why our products seem a little on the tame side.

We have had entries that were little more then a lot of chiles and some acid in our past events and I found them good.So by the sounds of things your saucesounds good.

Mick
Kato's

Okay. I've got some Ph test strips (for my hot tub) at home. Let me make sure it is low enough. I don't want to poison you (or anyone). I eat so much hot sauce myself, though, that I don't know how micro-organisms could survive!!
If it's low enough, I'll figure out a way to seal it and ship it. I'll get back to you.
 
staffing said:
kato said:
Josh

Either way will be fine. As for being embarassed no need as we have held Amatuer sauce competions in the past and have tried many homemade sauces and from what I've learned simple is very good. Myself I like the taste of just the chiles. We just try to make products that appeal to a large audience that's why our products seem a little on the tame side.

We have had entries that were little more then a lot of chiles and some acid in our past events and I found them good.So by the sounds of things your saucesounds good.

Mick
Kato's



Okay. I've got some Ph test strips (for my hot tub) at home. Let me make sure it is low enough. I don't want to poison you (or anyone). I eat so much hot sauce myself, though, that I don't know how micro-organisms could survive!!
If it's low enough, I'll figure out a way to seal it and ship it. I'll get back to you.

Can I take out a friendly little insurance policy on Mick???

T
 
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