Bushman's Chilli Sauces

Bushman's Chilli Sauces

The pulsating heat of Bushman's chilli sauces brings to your mouth the burning African sun, the vibrating heat of the red sand, and the warm winds of the Kalahari. Bushman's Chilli sauces come in attractive 125 ml bottles – a perfect table size. They each have a scale that indicates a heat index, ranging from 0 to 15. Bushman’s Chilli sauces are a celebration of the San, a people often referred to as 'the Bushmen'. Ancestors of the San lived as hunter-gatherers and were the earliest inhabitants of southern Africa (see below). In a court case lasting four years, the San fought Botswana’s government for the right to live on their ancestral land. On December 13 2006, the San miraculously won their land back! This gives us much joy and we feel part of their victory.

Our best braai recipes with Bushman's sauces...

Click here to dowload these recipes (sorry only available in Swedish).

The little town Hotazel, an oasis in the unforgiving trembling heat of the Northern Cape, gave its name to this chilli sauce. Just like its namesake, this sauce displays an array of flavours, married with a vibrant heat that compares to a veld fire (South African word for a grass, bush or forest fire).

Ingredients: fresh chillies (50%), spirit vinegar, capsicum oil (1%), herbs, spices, garlic, sugar, salt, sunflower oil, food starch from maize, preservative potassium sorbate (E202). Volume (net): 125 ml

This bottle has a 'Warning' sign on it! Don't let it scare you off! This explosive sauce has a strong aroma, broad flavour and a less sudden hotness than Hot Az Hell but the heat lasts longer and could be compared to that of a bonfire.

Ingredients: spirit vinegar, fresh chillies (40%), water, balsamic vinegar (contains preservative sulphurdioxide) herbs, sunflower oil, spices, maize starch, preservative potassium sorbate (E202). This product is very hot and must not be consumed by children. Avoid direct skin contact. Volume (net): 125 ml

Bushman's Chilli mustard is coarse mustard with a rounded taste. It tickles with a hint of chilli. It tastes like no other mustard you've had before. Some mustard connoiseurs say "it's more like a chilli sauce than a mustard"… Well maybe it is! Anyhow, it's incredibly popular – as it is, in sauces and marinades. Or in "Swedish home made mustard herring" (see our tips from a customer below :-)). Perhaps you have a favourite recipe to share? Little brother Bushman's Honey Mustard has also found his way into many kitchens! This lovely mustard can be used in your salad dressing, or in a warm potato salad (see recipe above), or perhaps also in "Swedish home made mustard herring" (see below). Otherwise spread it on your sandwich or use as a compliment to smoked or marinated salmon?

Bushman's Chilli mustard is coarse mustard with a rounded taste. It tickles with a hint of chilli. It tastes like no other mustard you've had before. Some mustard connoiseurs say "it's more like a chilli sauce than a mustard"… Well maybe it is! Anyhow, it's incredibly popular as it is, in sauces and marinades. Or in "Swedish home made mustard herring". Perhaps you have a favourite recipe to share?

Ingredients: mustard seeds (35%), spirit vinegar, apple cider vinegar (preservative sulphur dioxide, water, spices, herbs, sugar, salt, sunflower oil, mature chillies (2%), food starch from maize, preservative potassium sorbate (E202). Weight (net): 250 g

Bushman's Honey Mustard has also found his way into many kitchens! This lovely mustard can be used in your salad dressing, or in a warm potato salad, or perhaps also in "Swedish home made mustard herring". Otherwise spread it on your sandwich or use as a compliment to smoked or marinated salmon!

Ingredients: water, rapeseed oil, mustard (65%), apple cider vinegar, spirit vinegar, honey (21%), salt, modified corn starch, sugar, olive oil, pasturised egg yolk powder, stabiliser (E415), white pepper, sorbic acid, preservative potassium sorbate (E202), colourant (E160a) & flavourant. Store cold after opening. Weight (net): 250g

Harissa is a spicy sauce from North Africa, often used to add flavour to cous cous. It's delicious in stews, marinades, in cold or hot sauces and as a condiment directly with your food. It may contain different ingredients but always has chilli, cumin (jeera) and garlic.

Ingredients: paprika, cumin, cayenne, garlic powder, turmeric, tomato puré, sunflower oil, apple cider vinegar (sulphur dioxide, preservative), lemon juice, salt, potsassium sorbate(E202) (preservative). Store cool when opened. Net weight: 250g

This extremely hot chilli sauce is made with the finest Habanero chillies, mixed with dark Belgian chocolate, and matured for five years. It is a sauce made for the chilli lover and connoisseur. Let the flavours of prunes, spicy hot chilli & chocolate explode in your mouth! By us you will taste this wonderful sauce when you make the desert chocolate sauce for chilli lovers' together with your friends in Baobab Kitchen. Or if you order our 'chilli hot chocolate' that we serve in Baobab Café.

Ingredients: habanero chillies (40%), balsamic vinegar (contains preservative sulphurdioxide), olive oil, spirit vinegar, Belgian chocolate (70% cocoa), capsicum oil (2%), maize starch, preservative potassium sorbate (E202), spices, herbs, molasses, salt. Volume (net): 125 ml

The Bushmen of southern Africa

The range of Bushman's chilli sauces is a celebration of the earliest inhabitants of southern Africa – the San, a people often referred to as 'the Bushmen'. The unique culture of the ancestors of the San of today is revealed in archaeological sites, dating back hundreds of thousands of years, and in the legacy of their beautiful rock paintings, found throughout the southern tip of Africa. Ancestors of the San lived as hunter-gatherers, which means that they moved around to fulfil their needs for food and hides. They gathered wild plants and hunted both small and large animals. Near the sea, they lived mainly from fish and other sea animals.

Very tragically, the unity of the San as a distinct cultural and economical group vanished with the arrival of colonialism. Many were killed, enslaved, or employed as farm labourers or trackers, which by the beginning of last century eventually lead to the destruction of their cultural and traditional identity. Only a fragment of this rich culture prevails today in the San of the Kalahari. Struggling to maintain access to their land, now part of Kalagadi game reserve that extends over Botswana, South Africa, and Namibia, the Kalahari San have adopted many aspects of a western life-style and some keep domestic animals. The San of today speak a language with 'click' sounds, which is one aspect of their rich culture that has survived their transition from a widespread people to a marginalized cultural group that struggles to retain their identity.

Doesn't this look like a pleasant place to stay? This Bushman cave with its stunning rock art is found in the Cedarberg, Western Cape. Please visit www.travellersrest.co.za for information on these sites, and how to stay in beautiful stone cottages. surrounded by rock art.

The pulsating heat of Bushman's chilli sauces brings to your mouth the burning African sun, the vibrating heat of the red sand, and the warm winds of the Kalahari. By telling the story of the San, we want to pay a tribute to a fascinating culture, one of many on the African continent. We also want to say – it's not too late! You can still do something to help the San of today. With every bottle of Bushman's Chilli sauces sold by Taste of Africa 4% of the purchase price is donated to Survival international, (www.survival-international.org) an organisation that currently works to help solving the problems for the San people.

Further readings on the San:

Vanishing cultures of South Africa by P. Magubane. 1998, Struik Publishers, Cape Town.
In search of the San by P. Weinberg. 1997, Porcupine Press, Johannesburg
The Bushmen of southern Africa. by S. Gall. 2001, Chatto and Windus, London.
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