Barbados is known to the outside world as the home of Mount Gay rum, premium sugar and the national dish, the flying fish. But almost every visitor to the island has come across the Bajan pepper sauce. It is a ubiquitous condiment usually bottled in a glass jar or plastic soda bottle. Baja Californians use pepper sauce on just about everything from fish to chicken to pork. It’s definitely a flavor-enhancing experience, but for the uninitiated it can be HOT, HOT, HOT!

Hot peppers are measured using a method known as Scovil units. A green pepper, for example, has a rate of zero; Tabasco sauce can vary from 2,500 to 5,000 Scovil units. Bajan pepper sauce registers between 30,000 and 50,000 Scovil units or almost 10 times the heat of “normal” hot sauce. The sauce is not necessarily debilitating to the tongue, but rather causes an increase in body temperature, as it generates “body heat”.

The main ingredient in Bajan pepper sauce is mustard. The orange-yellow color distinguishes it from other West Indian pepper sauces. While there are literally hundreds of recipes, the main ingredients are mustard, onion, white vinegar, garlic, salt, and Scotch Bonnet pepper. Variations include adding thyme, cloves, radishes, sugar, and rum. Our personal favorite, Neville Edwards Pepper Sauce, contains 5% alcohol.

Bajan’s Pepper Sauce adds a delicious twist to Bloody Mary’s, enhances the flavor of chicken and fish, and provides a safe wake-up call in the morning when mixed with scrambled eggs. Most locals and the knowledgeable traveler will order a hot dog at any of the gas stations with pepper sauce and hyper chips (mashed potato chips) — note that a Bajan hot dog comes with mayonnaise and Parmesan cheese, so please indicate your preferences when placing your order! And for the true adventurer, Saturdays in Barbados are a time for puddin ‘n souse, a local no-wonder-what’s in it dish that should simply be eaten with pepper sauce.

There is a red version of Bajan pepper sauce known as canned peppers, a method of making pepper sauce that is passed down through the years from generation to generation. It involves marinating or soaking peppers, seeds, and stems in oil for periods of up to a year before adding the ingredients to the mix. Scovil units can go as high as 75,000 to 90,000 in canned peppers, making this seasoning only for professional hot pepper lovers. When added to chili or stews, the canned pepper sauce transports the depth of flavor to another dimension.

Be sure to pick up a bottle or two to take home as a wonderful souvenir of “us” island.