The iVillage panel samples an exciting new range of Latin American cooking sauces
One of the greatest souvenirs of any trip to Cuba or South America is the memory of the exotic tastes and flavours: lime, coconut, chillies and mangoes are just some of the ingredients that are as common to these equatorial climes as apples and plums are to us weather-beaten Brits.
That’s why we got so excited to hear about a new range of cooking sauces from Latina. The names alone were enough to whet the appetite – mango chilli and green peppercorns; Colombian citrus and chilli cream; Brazilian coconut, rocoto pepper and ginger mocqueca – so we couldn't wait to put these exciting new sauces to the test.
Latina not only guarantees natural, low-fat ingredients, but four of the five new sauces are also gluten-free – of particular importance to the daughter of Elaine Underwood, Latina’s managing director. If, like her, you’re one of the ten per cent of the country with wheat intolerance, you are well served by these sauces. ‘We’re passionate about quality,’ says Elaine. ‘These sauces highlight the benefits of the Latin American diet, which is corn-based rather than wheat-based.’
Our tasting panel were asked to follow the instructions on the jars and score each sauce out of ten.
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‘This medium-strength sauce wasn’t bad at all. I followed the recipe on the label for Chicken Moqueca, a traditional Brazilian Carnival dish with chicken, onion and peppers. This looked and tasted a bit artificial so I bottled out before serving and added a tub of Greek yoghurt, which turned the dish into a rather nice chicken tikka masala. I was told the kitchen smelled of boiled mangoes afterwards; I have no idea why. ‘ Louise
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‘Hmm, this mild sauce was delicious. I stir-fried some veggies, added the sauce for the last couple of minutes then served up with some boiled rice. Although the sauce doesn’t look too appealing in the jar, it tastes great: light and lemony with a slight chilli kick. It makes great hangover food, too. I ate the leftovers in bed the next morning with a huge bowl of noodles. Where can I buy more? ’ Kirstin
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‘I’m not a fan of creamy sauces in general so was a bit sceptical when faced with this very creamy sauce. I was delighted to find it didn’t taste especially creamy – the taut, tangy citrus taste is definitely in the ascendant here. I used it as a base for chicken stir-fry, adding red and yellow peppers, chopped green beans, diced tomatoes, onions and a small can of pineapple for a more piquant taste. Delicious! ’ Marie
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‘I couldn’t resist dipping into the sauce before I cooked, but was a bit put off by the weird chemical taste. But I persevered and cooked it with thin slices of pork, which I’d stir-fried with green peppers and onion. Once cooked, it still had that strange shampoo-y taste (very limey, which was weird, given that at just 0.03% the lime oil was the last thing on the ingredients list), but it was really spicy, which I loved. I’m usually quite disappointed by spicy sauces, but this had a really powerful kick. ’ Craig
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‘What I loved most about this typical Argentinian sauce was the rich, almost sweet-and-sour taste of the oranges combined with the rather hot and spicy chilli flavour. A great combo with roasted vegetables. I normally prepare my own sauces, but I was very satisfied with this fresh and zingy jarful – and I particularly liked the hotness. All this and just 0.4g fat per 100g! ’ Emily
Latina sauces are available from Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Safeway, priced £1.89 each.
Have you tried any of these sauces? Tell us what you think of them on All About Food & Drink