Nando's Chickenland Hot Peri-Peri Sauce (and some others): Savor the flavor that outweighs the sauce

I'm a big Twin Peaks fan. I was hooked from the very intro to the first episode, when Pete Martell, a fisherman, finds the washed up body of well known Twin Peaks high school student, prom queen, and mystery-woman extraordinaire Laura Palmer washed up on the beach wrapped in plastic in the small (fictional) Washington town the show is named for.

What's the significance? That lifeless body leads into a world of mystery, murder, motives, and the metaphysical like you wouldn't believe.
What's the point of this? Nando's Chickenland sauces remind me of Twin Peaks, in a way. A huge box of sauce arrived at the top-secret Good Hurts hot sauce cavern miles beneath the Earth's crust. Inside was Nando's Hot Peri-Peri Sauce (regular and Garlic flavor) and a slew of cooking sauces. Is Nando's Chickenland Hot Peri-Peri Sauce culinary murder? No, but it's the weakest sauce in a box of delicious flavors. Take or leave the hot sauce; Nando's has some die-hard followers, but their cooking sauces might just be worth the hype.

Let's look at the facts: Nando's is a huge mega-company with over 700 locations worldwide. Look at some of these locations. Unless you have the internet, you probably won't find too many restaurants selling their hot sauces in Cyprus or Botswana. However, they only have 2 restaurants here in the land of the free. They have a die-hard fan base in the UK; after reading over some reviews on Amazon, I wasn't surprised. The hot sauce is very salty, but their cooking sauces are sweet and robust, flavorful and the perfect accentuation to various foods. I'll talk about some of them along with the review of the first hot sauce!

Good Hurts: This sauce is not very hot, plain and simple. It has a very slight tangy spice to it. Like many low-heat hot sauces, it kind of rolls around in your throat. There are some little chunks of peri-peri peppers, African birds eyes peppers valued for their spice and delicious flavor. I think that heat is a bit lost in the thickness of the sauce; the other sauces I got, cooking sauces, aren't hot at all. These are sauces meant for savoring flavor and cooking with.

Flavor: I think, again, the flavor of this hot sauce is a little too salty. I think it tastes a little chalky, but not inedible. It reminds me of some Trappey's sauces. Before I get into that, however, let me introduce this new friend:

This Sun-Dried Tomato and Basil marinade tastes like a rich, slightly spicy pizza sauce. It's the best thing in the world for pasta and salads. Astoundingly, this sauce made of African ingredients is ideal for Italian food. Now, please direct your attention to this brand new pal:

This is the Roasted Reds Cooking Sauce, which is its own unique meal for the whole family (or just me). Cut up some veggies, cook some rice, and enjoy the heat and flavor of this roasted red pepper amalgam. It's a delicious mix of naturally smooth red peppers and a mild heat. This sauce could take the place of a curry or an Indian/Chinese food sauce; it's the kind of thing that, with the right meats and veggies, could really make a meal. I mean, it's called Chickenland...add some chicken!
Am I trying to swerve away from the hot sauce? Not really. I just think it's really important to say that while I don't like the hot sauce enough to gush about it, I think their cooking sauces are really, really amazing and must-buys for any do-it-yourself chef!


Availability: Warning: DO NOT view this website if you can't handle loads of animation or you're really, really high on drugs. Nando's makes a hot sauce that might not be above the cusp, but their cooking sauces are really, really incredible. If you're an international Good Hurts reader, look up your nearest Nando's locale. If you're in NY or Washington DC, you can probably find a restaurant around somewhere. For the rest of us, the website will have to do as the global takeover silently envelops our homes like the blankets of snow effortlessly tumbling down on this Iowa City hot sauce reviewer's home.

Good for: I think this hot sauce has the Brits excited because it's salty; they seem to like salty stuff over there. I don't think it's flavorful or hot enough to really go far here. The Sun-Dried Tomato and Basil Marinade would go great on Chicken, salad, or pasta. I might even put some on steak or fish. The Roasted Reds cooking sauce is ideal if you're a big fan of Earthy, down-home bell pepper flavor stir frys filled with chicken and veggies.

Review(s)
Nando's Chickenland Hot Peri-Peri Sauce:
Heat: *
Flavor: *
My Review: 4.0


I'm not reviewing the cooking sauces as hot sauce, BUT:
Sun-Dried Tomato and Basil Marinade:
My Review: 8.1


Roasted Reds Cooking Sauce:
My Review: 8.9

The hot sauce has some die-hard fans, but this reviewers says that the cooking sauces are really what's special.