Bitter: ⭐⭐⭐✰✰
Salty: ⭐⭐✰✰✰
Sour/Tangy: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✰
Sweet: ⭐⭐✰✰✰
Umami: ⭐⭐✰✰✰
Heat: ⭐✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰
Quick Flavor Notes: Green, tangy, fresh, oniony
Texture: Medium and chunky
Recommended: Yes
Ingredients: Peppers (shishito, cubanelle, hungarian hot wax, datil), shallot, rice wine vinegar, onion, scallion vinegar, carrot, scallion, garlic, lemon juice, fiddleheads, cucumber, garlic scapes, ramp, leek microgreens, salt, dill, mustard microgreens.
I did something that I virtually never do when the box from Craic Sauce arrived – I opened a new sauce immediately. While that may not seem odd, I have a backlog of several hundred bottles of sauces waiting for review so I’ve tried to be strict about opening up older bottles first so that I can enjoy them while they’re still fresh. However, after hearing about Holy Fiddlehead on a Reddit post last year I was so excited to try it I went right to the Craic Sauce site only to discover it was sold out. I continued checking figuring that it would be released during the spring during the Fiddlehead Fern season, but alas it never appeared, until suddenly a couple of weeks ago, Eureka!, it was back in stock.
Although the fiddleheads get top billing on the label they’re only one part of a pretty complex sauce in terms of ingredients. If you’re not familiar with fiddleheads they’re a small edible fern shaped like the scroll at the top of a violin, or, well fiddle. They taste like “green” to me – grassy, vegetal, chlorophyllic, with hints of earthiness, sort of like a forest clearing after a springtime rain. The pepper compliment is a blend of shishito, cubanelle, Hungarian wax, and datil peppers. Both shishitos and cubanelles have virtually no heat but the other two can have a little burn. Holy Fiddlehead is also loaded up to the gills with alliums – shallots, scallions, scallion vinegar, onions, garlic, ramps (a hyper-seasonal wild green onion), garlic scapes, and leek greens all making an appearance. The sauce is moderately chunky with a medium-to-medium thin consistency. The onions and garlic along with the vinegar are the first aromas that come up, though there is also an undeniable underlying freshness.
I remember the first time I tried fiddleheads, the super floral aroma, the unique green and grassy flavor, the almost crunchy texture, I loved them and searched for them again and again at the grocery store only for them never to show up again. I was looking forward to this sauce to experience that flavor again. In that regard I was a bit let down as while there is some of the flavor of fiddleheads in the sauce they’re very much only one part of an ensemble of flavors instead of the dominant one. Craic Sauce Holy Fiddlehead is super tangy and does have that very fresh green flavor that I love in verde sauces. Three of the peppers used – shishito, cubanelle, and Hungarian wax – all have fairly vegetal and grassy flavors which blend with that flavor of the fiddleheads. The datils should bring some extra heat and sweetness but with the color of the sauce and being the last one on the list I have a feeling there aren’t many of them in the sauce. There is a well-rounded and robust onion and garlic flavor as well which adds some earthiness and sweetness to the sauce, though again it’s hard to pick out individual flavors from the myriad of allium varieties. What does pop out a bit are the mustard greens in the sauce, giving a distinct earthy mustardy background note that I love against the brighter green flavors.
I suppose ultimately that’s my rub with this sauce, which is mostly just academic as the sauce is absolutely delicious. It’s just the hot-sauce nerd in me thinking that if you’re going to have a super-special unique ingredient like fiddleheads or ramps you should let that ingredient be the star of the show and keep the rest of the sauce simple around it to let it shine. I’m not against ensemble or kitchen-sink style hot sauces, in fact fellow New England based hot sauce company The Spicy Shark is known for hot sauces filled with tons of ingredients that are still delicious but even when they use some surprising them they’re still readily available run-of-the-mill produce. I’d love to see Craic Sauce try something to slim this down – make a sauce that’s 50% of more fiddleheads with just one pepper variety and vinegar, do another one that 50% or more ramps with one pepper variety and vinegar, let those special unique ingredients really shine. Butterfly Bakery of Vermont does with with garlic scapes with the Scape Sauce. Again I will reiterate that Holy Fiddlehead is delicious, so this criticism isn’t of the flavor of the sauce, just of what I view are missed opportunities.
Craic Sauce recommends trying this sauce with milder-flavored foods to let the flavors shine. I did try this with some plain air-fried chicken wings and felt the tangy green flavor was a good with them (though I’ve never met a hot sauce that wasn’t good with chicken wings). This is a great hot sauce for pizza, the freshness brightens it up and the big oniony and garlicky flavors and a natural pairing for pizza. I found it less successful with creamy pasta, which surprised me as tangy sauces usually do well there, but the green-ness of the flavor wasn’t complimentary in that context. On the other hand this is very good with Mexican seafood. It’s super tasty on fish and shrimp tacos as well as added to Mexican style ceviche.
Though I have some qualms about fiddleheads getting top billing on the bottle yet not being the dominant flavor I will still recommend this sauce because it is very delicious and fresh tasting. Holy Fiddlehead is also all natural with no artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, or thickeners.
by MagnusAlbusPater
5 Comments
Bitter: ⭐⭐⭐✰✰
Salty: ⭐⭐✰✰✰
Sour/Tangy: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✰
Sweet: ⭐⭐✰✰✰
Umami: ⭐⭐✰✰✰
Heat: ⭐✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰
Quick Flavor Notes: Green, tangy, fresh, oniony
Texture: Medium and chunky
Recommended: Yes
Ingredients: Peppers (shishito, cubanelle, hungarian hot wax, datil), shallot, rice wine vinegar, onion, scallion vinegar, carrot, scallion, garlic, lemon juice, fiddleheads, cucumber, garlic scapes, ramp, leek microgreens, salt, dill, mustard microgreens.
I did something that I virtually never do when the box from Craic Sauce arrived – I opened a new sauce immediately. While that may not seem odd, I have a backlog of several hundred bottles of sauces waiting for review so I’ve tried to be strict about opening up older bottles first so that I can enjoy them while they’re still fresh. However, after hearing about Holy Fiddlehead on a Reddit post last year I was so excited to try it I went right to the Craic Sauce site only to discover it was sold out. I continued checking figuring that it would be released during the spring during the Fiddlehead Fern season, but alas it never appeared, until suddenly a couple of weeks ago, Eureka!, it was back in stock.
Although the fiddleheads get top billing on the label they’re only one part of a pretty complex sauce in terms of ingredients. If you’re not familiar with fiddleheads they’re a small edible fern shaped like the scroll at the top of a violin, or, well fiddle. They taste like “green” to me – grassy, vegetal, chlorophyllic, with hints of earthiness, sort of like a forest clearing after a springtime rain. The pepper compliment is a blend of shishito, cubanelle, Hungarian wax, and datil peppers. Both shishitos and cubanelles have virtually no heat but the other two can have a little burn. Holy Fiddlehead is also loaded up to the gills with alliums – shallots, scallions, scallion vinegar, onions, garlic, ramps (a hyper-seasonal wild green onion), garlic scapes, and leek greens all making an appearance. The sauce is moderately chunky with a medium-to-medium thin consistency. The onions and garlic along with the vinegar are the first aromas that come up, though there is also an undeniable underlying freshness.
I remember the first time I tried fiddleheads, the super floral aroma, the unique green and grassy flavor, the almost crunchy texture, I loved them and searched for them again and again at the grocery store only for them never to show up again. I was looking forward to this sauce to experience that flavor again. In that regard I was a bit let down as while there is some of the flavor of fiddleheads in the sauce they’re very much only one part of an ensemble of flavors instead of the dominant one. Craic Sauce Holy Fiddlehead is super tangy and does have that very fresh green flavor that I love in verde sauces. Three of the peppers used – shishito, cubanelle, and Hungarian wax – all have fairly vegetal and grassy flavors which blend with that flavor of the fiddleheads. The datils should bring some extra heat and sweetness but with the color of the sauce and being the last one on the list I have a feeling there aren’t many of them in the sauce. There is a well-rounded and robust onion and garlic flavor as well which adds some earthiness and sweetness to the sauce, though again it’s hard to pick out individual flavors from the myriad of allium varieties. What does pop out a bit are the mustard greens in the sauce, giving a distinct earthy mustardy background note that I love against the brighter green flavors.
I suppose ultimately that’s my rub with this sauce, which is mostly just academic as the sauce is absolutely delicious. It’s just the hot-sauce nerd in me thinking that if you’re going to have a super-special unique ingredient like fiddleheads or ramps you should let that ingredient be the star of the show and keep the rest of the sauce simple around it to let it shine. I’m not against ensemble or kitchen-sink style hot sauces, in fact fellow New England based hot sauce company The Spicy Shark is known for hot sauces filled with tons of ingredients that are still delicious but even when they use some surprising them they’re still readily available run-of-the-mill produce. I’d love to see Craic Sauce try something to slim this down – make a sauce that’s 50% of more fiddleheads with just one pepper variety and vinegar, do another one that 50% or more ramps with one pepper variety and vinegar, let those special unique ingredients really shine. Butterfly Bakery of Vermont does with with garlic scapes with the Scape Sauce. Again I will reiterate that Holy Fiddlehead is delicious, so this criticism isn’t of the flavor of the sauce, just of what I view are missed opportunities.
Craic Sauce recommends trying this sauce with milder-flavored foods to let the flavors shine. I did try this with some plain air-fried chicken wings and felt the tangy green flavor was a good with them (though I’ve never met a hot sauce that wasn’t good with chicken wings). This is a great hot sauce for pizza, the freshness brightens it up and the big oniony and garlicky flavors and a natural pairing for pizza. I found it less successful with creamy pasta, which surprised me as tangy sauces usually do well there, but the green-ness of the flavor wasn’t complimentary in that context. On the other hand this is very good with Mexican seafood. It’s super tasty on fish and shrimp tacos as well as added to Mexican style ceviche.
Though I have some qualms about fiddleheads getting top billing on the bottle yet not being the dominant flavor I will still recommend this sauce because it is very delicious and fresh tasting. Holy Fiddlehead is also all natural with no artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, or thickeners.
Interesting, this is made like 15 miles from me
Sounds interesting plus shishitos have amazing flavor. I am wary of anything that calls itself “craft” though
Their other sauces are all excellent. I’ll have to get this.
This was a limited edition run wasn’t it? So hard to get now.
But their other sauces are fantastic. Big fan of the pumpkin one, and brian borus curry