I'm so excited to finally be able to tell you about our Maple Pikanté sauce . Seriously, this is the sauce that took me the longest to create. I've been perfecting it for about 2 years, so I'm really proud of the result. It tastes REALLY good.
Where did this sauce come from? There were 3 things I wanted to do: 1) create a sauce that tastes and represents Quebec; 2) create the ULTIMATE sauce; and 3) design a sauce that would be able to win the biggest BBQ sauce competition in the world in Kansas City, the American Royal. (I didn't put any pressure on myself, no. 😬) In all honesty, I think I created something "BIG". I can't wait to hear from you. 😉
What is Pikanté Maple Sauce?
Maple Pikanté sauce is a sweet and spicy sauce that has a super well-balanced taste. Its sweet taste comes from the flavors of maple and its spicy side from the heat of the "ghost pepper" (bhut jolokia pepper in French) that it contains.
Personally, I find ghost pepper to be very tasty and flavorful. It may be one of the hottest peppers in the world, but I think it's the best of all peppers. But hey, my goal wasn't to create a "hot" hot sauce, so I just added a little bit of ghost pepper. Basically, its taste tingles the tip of your tongue and warms your palate a little before disappearing... kind of like a real ghost would. Yes, this sauce is spicy, but it's neither "hot" nor "hot" per se.
Otherwise, this sauce is a finishing sauce that is syrupy and has a very sticky texture. What I mean by that is that it adheres well to the meat and gives it a "shiny" appearance. With it, the caramelized crusts are always superb!
You can use it on pretty much everything, especially meats that are used in BBQ competitions (I'll tell you more about them below). Its taste is out of the ordinary and incredible.
How spicy and sweet is it?
If I had to rate its "spiciness" level, I would say it is a 3 or 3.5 out of 5 (5 being the hottest). It "stings" but doesn't burn. In order, I would say our most intense sauce would be Ketchot , then Funky Chili , and then Maple Pikanté.
On the sweet side, it's one of our sweetest sauces, but its taste is well balanced with the heat of the chili. The maple flavor tastes like heaven though, if I may say so. 😉
Pikanté Maple Sauce versus Bourbon Maple Sauce
In the list of ingredients of these 2 sauces, there is maple and bourbon. However, their ratio is completely different. Bourbon Maple has a more tomatoey taste while Maple Pikanté has a rather sweet/spicy taste. Maple Pikanté is also spicier than Bourbon Maple (it's not called that for nothing 😉) since the 2 sauces are not made with the same pepper.
If you take a spoonful of Maple Bourbon Sauce, you will feel its heat for a longer time than if you take a spoonful of Maple Pikanté Sauce. As I said earlier, Maple Pikanté Sauce is made with ghost pepper, so you won't feel its heat for long.
Otherwise, there is also a difference in the texture of the 2 sauces. Bourbon Maple is thicker while Maple Pikanté has more the consistency of a syrup and is stickier.
What do I like most about Pikanté Maple Sauce?
For me, it's a sauce that is perfect. The combination and balance of its flavors is really the bomb.
I also love that it can be used anywhere. Its touch of heat and spicy side make it a must-have on ribs, chicken, steak, salmon… everything goes with it!
How to use this sauce and what to pair it with?
This finishing sauce works best when glazed on food at the end of cooking. In the last 5 minutes of cooking, brush it on your meat, then close the lid of your BBQ. Let it caramelize on your protein for a little 5 minutes and enjoy your creation afterwards. Does the wait seem too long? (I feel you! 😜) Glaze this sauce on your meat when it is finished cooking, then enjoy it right away!
Not sure which protein to pair with? The “HOLY GRAIL” meats to pair with this sauce are definitely ribs, pork, and chicken. However, this sauce is also surprisingly delicious on steak or salmon.
This sauce is designed to make you salivate more and taste more, so I definitely recommend pairing it with our Kansas , Sweet Kansas or Tex-Max dry rub for phenomenal results.
I look forward to hearing your feedback!
Happy BBQ!