FROM WIKI :
"...There are many recipes for chili sauces - the common ingredient being chili peppers. A group of chemicals called capsaicinoids are responsible for the heat in chile peppers. The peppers are infused in anything from vinegar, oil, water, beer and alcohol to fruits and vegetable pulp.
West Indies type hot pepper sauces, as they are most commonly known there, feature heavily in Caribbean cuisine. Like American-style sauces, they are made from chili peppers and vinegar, with fruits and vegetables added for extra flavor. The most common peppers used are habanero and scotch bonnet, the latter being the most common in Jamaica. Both are very hot peppers, making for strong sauces (e.g. Capt'n Sleepy's Quintessential Habanero, or Matouk's). Over the years each island developed its own distinctive recipes, and home-made sauces are still common. ..."
Belize has a fantastic hot pepper sauce based on Habaneros called Melinda's. It has been around since the early 1990's and I fell in love with it the first time I tasted it. It has a wonderful citrus-fruit, caribbean flavour all of its own.
Had a great crop of Habanero and Tabasco peppers this year so no better reason than to make a Caribbean Style Habanero Salsa....
My Calypso Caribbean salsa is made up of papaya, mango, orange, lime, carrot, onion, garlic, cilantro, spring onion, and habanero peppers. These are mixed with red wine vinegar and salt to add body and flavor.
The spring onions, cilantro, parsley, and some of the white onions did not get processed in the cuisinart. Their larger peices will contribute to a nice chunky thick salsa. I chopped them up and put them in the pot-
Got everything else prepped for the processing. I added a bunch of ripe red Tabasco peppers at the last minute, they are on top of more Habaneros on the left. In the back bowl are the papaya, oranges and mangos.
The limes were squeezed into juice thanks to Mrs Rivet's help and then poured into the mix to help it along-
It's amazing how much the carrots (and fruit) tempered the flaming heat of the peppers. The raw salsa was still very hot, but nothing compared to the peppers alone. The cooking it will go through during the processing will do a lot to mellow out the heat. But before that, we filled 32 half-pint jars~
Into the pressure canner they went and are cooling right now. More pics of the finished product tomorrow, as well as the jars and more evaluations of the salsa itself. Looks like it is going to be another big success.
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