When I was a child, Saturday lunch was always a version of a fry-up or beans on toast (macaroni cheese on toast for me as I don’t like baked beans) – accompanied by red sauce, or brown sauce. We never called it ketchup, and I can’t even remember the proper name of brown sauce (HP sauce?) – it was always red sauce, brown sauce. Well, now there’s a new one: purple sauce.
Created by Premier Inn with the help of a chef called Ed Baines, Purple Sauce is designed to go with the traditional English cooked breakfast, served at Premier Inns. It has a blackberry base, with other ingredients including crushed chillies, toasted cumin, smoked salt and cider vinegar. It has no artificial colours, flavourings or additives, which is always good to know.
They sent me a bottle to try out – luckily my parents were visiting and I was planning a full English breakfast (it’s not something my boyfriend and I often have, as I’m not keen on most elements – I’d rather just have a sausage sandwich!). I made sausages, bacon, eggs, hash browns, toast and baked beans, and put this bottle of sauce on the table next to the ketchup. I didn’t have any brown sauce so I waited to see which one my dad would reach for first.
Everyone was quite willing to try it and the reaction was a positive one- unusual, but in a good way. My parents said they weren't sure they would buy a whole bottle of it if it was sold in the supermarket but would definitely have it if they were staying in a Premier Inn.
It has got a slightly smoky flavour, which goes well with sausages; I can see this working nicely with pulled pork too. I even wondered about using it in a sweet dish, such as the filling for a pastry tart, but I didn't have time to try this idea out before going on holiday!
Thanks to Premier Inn for sending the sauce to review.
Thanks to Premier Inn for sending the sauce to review.