A fruit BBQ sauce that doesn’t make you gag? Excellent. Four stars.
On a personal level, I find strawberry BBQ sauce to be a somewhat unnatural concoction with no direct cultural relevance or reason for existing other than for novelty’s sake. I was just reading this article on CNN about another guy who is going and doing his mission to find the ultimate BBQ joints. Steve Raichlen (King of BBQ) had a quote which was pretty memorable.
“We live in a world of homogenization.” Barbecue is “the last bastion of regional culture, and I think that’s one reason we prize it so dearly.”
I have to agree. And although I do like some of today’s modern music and modern art and modern styles, a lot of today’s “culture” is really just a mixup of things we like from our past, isn’t it? And to me, mixing strawberry and BBQ is like putting a chunk of beef in your PB & J sandwich. I’m sure someone has tried it, but come on now. Is that necessary?
But to my surprise, this sauce actually tasted great. I tried some on top of a piece of chicken with a salty rub applied and found that the two themes (sweet / salty) worked really nice together. I tried some on top of chicken without any rub and found the taste to be a little on the mild side, but still interesting and tasty. Nothing too shocking, and as opposed to the Tassleberry concoction, this sauce didn’t stimulate my gag reflexes. It smelled natural, flowed smooth, tasted decent (maybe a little mild) and looks nice. Ingredients a bit weak, but to make strawberry BBQ sauce taste good is something special.
Smell 5
Taste 4
Consistency 5
Ingredients 3
Label and marketing 4
Ingredients:
Strawberry Jelly (Strawberry Puree, Sugar, Pectin), Tomato Paste, Water, Corn Syrup, Brown Sugar, Vinegar, Worcestershire Sauce (Distilled Vinegar, Molasses, Corn Syrup, Water, Salt, Caramel Color, Sugar, Spices, Anchovy Puree, Natural Flavor (Contains Soy), Tamarind), Liquid Smoke, Spices, Salt.
About the Manufacturer:
Brad Hayden was born and raised in a family restaurant business. Learning the whole aspect of a restaurant and food, he wanted to apply this knowledge and experience in his everyday life. After graduating from college with a BBA in marketing, he found the best way to enjoy his true love was to be a food manufacturer. Luna Mercato became a proud product line of his own. Now hes at age 22, with the brand selling over 30000 units a year. The Brand line includes Barbecue sauces, salsa, dressings & cheese spreads.
Website:
http://www.kentuckytastebuds.com
Site Editor, BBQ Sauce Lover, Family Guy, Hi Tech Marketer by Day. He recently wrote the Ebook “How to Market Your BBQ Sauce” which can be purchased on this site.
I wanted to say thanks for the review. I wanted people to know, we aren’t like tasselberry, we kept the bbq base of tomatoes and added some sweetness, but not anything that will make your mouth pucker!!
Thanks again so much,
I hope you enjoyed the blackberry and blueberry as much!