Bajan Hot Pepper Sauce

Bajan hot pepper sauce is served with everything in Barbados. Recipes and preferences vary and like Bajan Seasoning each cook or family has their own “secret” recipe.

Bajan hot pepper sauce is of a thick consistency with a bright yellow colour that is flecked with pieces of red Barbados Bonney hot peppers.

At first taste you get a strong mustard flavour, then suddenly after 3-4 seconds, the powerful heat level kicks in. It’s an excellent combination of heat and flavour and very different from Trini (Trinidadian) hot pepper sauce which is generally red in colour.

Today most Bajan’s buy ready made hot pepper sauce. 

One of the first commercial manufactures of Bajan Hot Pepper sauce was LG Miller & Sons Import and Export Ltd. under the Windmill Products label.  This family business started in 1965 with a home-made hot sauce recipe and soon they were producing thirty gallons of hot pepper sauce a week.  Nowadays, their capacity exceeds 2,000 gallons per week!

Today Windmill has many local competitors such as Aunt May’s, Delish, ÉCAF, Lottie’s…

Back home, if you cannot readily get any of the above brands of Bajan Hot Pepper sauce, here is Errol Barrow’s Bajan hot pepper sauce recipe.

Errol Walton Barrow was the first Prime Minister of Barbados from 1961-76 and again from 1986 until his death in 1987. 

In addition to a serving in the RAF in WWII as a Navigation Officer and being an accomplished barrister Errol Barrow was also an accomplished cook, who co-wrote “Privilege: Cooking in the Caribbean” with his good friend from Trinidad Dr. Kendal  Lee, a Chinese dentist. 

He noted: “Pepper sauce recipes can be adjusted to suit individual tastes: green papaya, green mango may also be used.”

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and boil for about 15 minutes. Adjust the consistency with water. Puree in a food processor or blender and bottle in sterilised bottles.

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Here is an alternative Bajan hot pepper sauce recipe.  This is Thelma’s Bajan hot pepper sauce recipe.  This recipe is taken from the Eat Like a Girl blog by Irish food writer Niamh (pronounced Knee-uv!) Shields published in February 2013.

Thelma’s Bajan pepper sauce recipe is composed of turmeric for colour, chillies for heat, onions for consistency, vinegar thins it out and preserves it, mustard gives it an extra bass note and helps with the consistency too and a little brown sugar balances it.

Put the turmeric in a food processor or blender and process until almost smooth. Add a little vinegar to help it along if you need to. Add the onions, and process until finely chopped. Add the chillies, repeat. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and then add the vinegar, sugar and mustard. You want to keep it a little coarse.

Taste and if too hot, reduce the heat by adding vinegar with some mustard to offset it. Bit by bit, tasting as you go.  Store in sterilised jars or bottles. It will keep out the fridge as the vinegar acts as a preservative.

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Maria at hotlollies.com has another alternative. See: Homemade Bajan Style Pepper Sauce.

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Errol W. Barrow & Kendal A. Lee’s book

Privilege: Cooking in the Caribbean, by Errol W. Barrow & Kendal A. Lee was published by Macmillan Caribbean in 1988. It was written by two West Indians from different islands, from different ethnic origins, different fields of work and different backgrounds. The great interest they both shared was their love of cooking.

This book stands as a legacy of Errol Barrow and Kendal Lee’s wish to share with others their love of the rich diversity of good recipes from the Caribbean.

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Bajan Hot Pepper Sauce originally appeared in BajanThings who have kindly allowed us to re-produce it here.

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