Chopping it up with Orriss & Son

Featured in our most recent box was Orriss & Son, My Wave Piri Piri hot sauce. We caught up with the creators, to find out a bit more about the team behind the sauce and to hear with the future holds!

Tell us a little about yourself?

My name is David Underwood & I am a chef, but first & foremost I am a cook always chasing flavour, specifically chilli & heat. The sauces were developed with home cooks in mind to provide them with a resource for elevating their dishes to another level with very little work. As a fan of condiments and hot sauce it was only natural to create my own through small batch fermenting.

What sparked your love of hot sauce? Do you remember the first time you had your first hot sauce - how did it make you feel?

I think it was something like a great buffalo wing where you're chasing the hot tang 'til the last bite. I also found Laoganma style crispy chilli oil & Sriracha when I ate a lot of vietnamese noodle soups for similar reasons.

Can you tell us about how you developed My Wave?

Our original recipe sauce, My Wave was created as a condiment for street food initially & from there we went onto variants of that same process. A few trials later using different chillies, 'hero' spices & aromats we found we were able to channel other contrasting flavour profiles.

Hot sauce is going through a real renaissance at the moment, why do you think that is?

I think the emergence of street food, alongside our ever growing desire for flavour driven culinary imports. Not to mention the highly addictive nature of chillies!

What advice would you give to budding hot sauce makers looking to launch?

Decide what you want from a hot sauce in terms of what it delivers & its brand aspirations. Then figure out how to nail that balance & tie those different elements together.

What excites you most about the rest of this year?

I find the prospect of social interaction really exciting whether it be through food, music or generally being in the same space as people I love hanging out with friends.

Can you tell us about any sauces that are in development or are about to get released?

I am aiming to release products at both ends of the heat spectrum. I don't think my sauces truly qualify as very hot, but it would be cool to use some big beasts to bring major heat to the table, whilst adding an interesting table sauce that doesn't lean so much on chilli is also a plan.

Best three albums to cook too?

 and your top three go to condiments?

I love any music that helps me focus my mind...

Nick Cave - Push the sky away

GoGo Penguin - Version 2.0

Daniel Avery - Drone Logic

& any condiment that brings a good balance (other than our own!);

Singularity Het Sass

Marmite or vegemite, not fussed

Peanut Butter (always smooth)

Find out more about Orriss & Son here.