FANCY HANKS: Cayenne & Watermelon Hot Sauce – 200ml

Where the hot sauce habit begins

This is the gateway. Cayenne at 39% and watermelon at 34% — an almost even split that sounds like a stunt and works like a charm. Fresh, fruity, barely warm, and dangerous only in the sense that it's how people end up owning fourteen bottles of hot sauce. Fancy Hank's tell you to start on an oyster. They're right.

The flavour

Watermelon lands first — clean, juicy, faintly floral, nothing like the lolly you're bracing for. Red cayenne follows with a bright vegetal chilli flavour rather than a hit of fire. White vinegar and garlic sharpen everything, salt holds it together, and a touch of red habanero adds a low warmth at the back that fades almost as soon as you notice it.

How to cook with it

• A single splash on a freshly shucked oyster, no mignonette, no lemon. Let it do the work.
• Toss grilled prawns through it straight off the coals while the shells are still hot.
• Shake it over fish tacos where a heavier sauce would flatten everything underneath.
• Stir it into a mayo for a dipping sauce that's fresh rather than fiery.
• Splash it into a beer with a squeeze of lime and a rim of salt. It works and you'll tell everyone.

In the bottle

Coral-pink and loose — more of a splash sauce than a drizzle sauce. It shakes out fast, so tip carefully over anything delicate.

Ingredients & Dietary

Ingredients: Red Cayenne Chilli (39%), Watermelon (34%), White Vinegar, Garlic, Salt, Red Habanero Chilli, Xanthum Gum (415).

Dietary: Vegan. Preservative free. No gluten. Always check the physical label.

The Rub Smuggler's Verdict

Thirty-four per cent watermelon in a chilli sauce is the kind of manifest you'd expect somebody to be lying about, and they're not. Shuck a dozen, splash this on, and finish with a few flakes of Falksalt Wild Mushroom Sea Salt Flakes. Crumb the leftovers in SINS Q Alabama Fried Chicken Coating and fry them — a fried oyster with this on top is a serious thing.

Questions answered

How hot is it really?
Mild — 1 out of 4 on the Fancy Hank's own scale. It's the entry point of the range. On Hub Heat it rates 2/11.

Does it taste like watermelon?
Yes, clean and fresh rather than sweet. At 34% it's nearly as much of the bottle as the chilli.

What has it won?
A Bronze Medal at the 2018 Australian Food Awards.

What's the best thing to put it on?
Oysters. It's what the brand recommends and it's the best use of the bottle.

Is it Australian made?
Yes — made in Australia from 96% or more Australian ingredients.

Is it gluten free?
It's labelled no gluten. Always check the physical label if you're coeliac.