Levi Roots' Reggae Reggae Sauce

We rather enjoy a barbeque, and durring the summers, we spend quite a few sunny afternoons and into the evening sat in the garden (either ours or friends) cooking, eating, chatting and generally having a good time. On this occasion we were round at a friends and had taken some food over there instead of them coming to us. Why theirs - well coz they had a new baby so doing it there was easier for them, and we didn't mind.

It was at their place that we first came across Reggae Reggae sauce. Now hubby is a regular hot freak, and I'm not adverse to a bit of spice in my food, so this went down quite well with us as you can imagine.

It's based on a Jamacian jerk sauce recipe and has lots of spices in it as well as being reasonably sweet and fruity tasting. It looks a bit like brown sauce in it's consistency, and actually in some ways it's got a similar under note to it which is probably from the fruits used, but it's definitely much spicier and richer tasting.

We've used it in cooking, and also as a dipping sauce, I think it's particularly nice with a lamb burger in a bun, and hubby thinks it tastes best over his chips. Actually one of my favourite way's of cooking with it is as our friends did it the first time we encountered it, used as part of a marinade for chicken, and then barbequed or grilled. It gives a really tasty coating to the meat and to be honest although it's nicest if you add a few other ingredients to the marinade, it's not actually necessary.

A bottle costs around £1.50 in most supermarkets, but we found some not long back in Farm Foods for £1 a bottle, so we stocked up a bit. It's easy to spot on the shelves because the label on the bottle is in traditional Rasta colours (Yellow, Green and Red), which really makes it stand out from the rest.

There are three other flavours in the Reggae Reggae table sauce range now, but I've not tried those yet. Nor have we tried the various cook in sauces that are available either. We keep meaning to, but somehow every time I'm in the supermarket I forget to look for them.

There's a Levi Roots (the man who came up with Reggae Reggae sauce) Reggae Reggae website too, which may not sound that interesting, but actually it's worth a look as there are a few rather nice recipes listed on there - the glazed chicken is lovely. There's also a section about Levi Roots music as well which is quite interesting, and details of his latest tour where he cooks and sings at the same time - now I know I've been known to sing in the kitchen occasionally, but combining the two on stage seems a tad strange to me - what does he do pass the food out to the audience?

Anyway, going back to the original sauce itself, I'd say if you like a bit of spice in your food and haven't already done so, then this one is very much worth a look. It's not too expensive, and it does lend itself to cooking as well as being used as a table sauce making it very versatile.

Summary: Versatile sauce that can be used as a condiment & in your cooking - One worth having in the cupboard