Pirate’s Lantern Original Bajan Pepper Sauce

Sam Lord, the most notorious pirate from the isle of Barbados, hung lanterns from the trees near his castle to lure unsuspecting ships to his shores. There he plundered their many treasures, including the finest rum from the oldest distilleries in the Caribbean. Today, that same rum infuses authentic Barbadian flavors into each bottle of Pirate’s Lantern Original Bajan Pepper Sauce. The result? Pure Pirate’s Gold.

Why rum, or pirate’s gold, as we prefer to call it? It might not seem an obvious choice, but in our family, it’s tradition—four generations worth, to be exact. Our great grandmother, a religious woman seeking to temper her husband’s drinking, used to sneak a bit of rum into her pepper sauce just so there’d be less going into his glass. When she discovered how it enhanced the flavors of her sauce, that rum earned a permanent place in the family recipe. Pirate’s Lantern Original Bajan Pepper Sauce is a uniquely Barbados-style hot sauce. What makes this style distinctive is the use of two key ingredients: Scotch Bonnet peppers and mustard.

Seductively sweet, yet sinfully hot, Scotch Bonnet peppers are scarlet in color and range from 100,000 to 350,000 Scoville units. In their native Barbados, these peppers contribute a level of heat that helps the locals keep cool in the tropical climate by causing a mild perspiration.

Mustard adds the vibrant color and bold flavor that are essential to a great Barbados-style pepper sauce. Mustard also plays an important role in texture, as it helps to thicken the sauce naturally without the use of additives. However, this sauce should not be confused with spicy mustard. Barbados-style pepper sauce has a more complex flavor palette, and the aroma of the mustard is actually stronger than the taste.

Each ingredient is carefully controlled, starting with ideal proportions, added at just the right time, in just the right sequence. As the sauce slowly simmers, it thickens and evolves into the desired balance of heat, aroma, texture, and taste. When ready, the pepper sauce is promptly bottled, sealed, and sits for a period of time, letting the flavors develop further before it begins the journey to your dinner table.

Each bottle contains a savory blend of Caribbean hot peppers (Scotch Bonnet peppers), mustard, vinegar, water, onions, salt, horseradish, spices and rum— a pirate’s gold. These simple ingredients are the same ones that have been used in our traditional recipe for four generations.