This Divina Calabrian Chili Garlic Spread came from Whole Foods. We spotted this one on an endcap display and, from the appearance of massive amounts of garlic, immediately knew we wanted to try it. Admittedly, it's a little outside the chili-infused oil arena, but we couldn't resist.
Main Flavor Elements
- Garlic
- Chili
Snapshot
- Base oil(s): Sunflower
- Solids to oil ratio: Very high
- Flavor Enhancer: N/S
- Potential allergens: nut oil
- Storage: Refrigerate after opening
Our Impressions
- Heat level: Moderate
- Texture: Soft solids
- Saltiness: Moderately low (490mg. per 30gm.)
There's so much garlic in this it's hard to believe it's not the first ingredient on the list. Its contribution is pleasantly somewhere between piquant and mellow. In other words, while it's softened from cooking, it hasn't lost much of its inherent garlic character.
The chili heat is right there, too, complementing not competing with the garlic. The acidity regulators, lactic, acetic and citric, keep things on the bright side, lending an impression of freshness to the pepper.
We found tasting it alone to be a little bracing, so we decided to apply it to some food, Mediterranean sardines in olive oil over rice. This mellowed the chili and garlic out quite nicely, and elevated the otherwise bland fish and rice. We're looking forward to trying it with other things.
We created a new category, Calabrian, to add more of this Southern Italian-style type of finds to in future.
Ingredients
Sunflower oil, garlic, chili peppers, dried onion, sea salt, garlic powder, red chili pepper, lactic acid (acidity regulator), water, acetic acid (acidity regulator), citric acid (acidity regulator).
More Information
Brand: FOODMatch, Inc. / Divina
Style: Calabrian
Price Paid: $6.99 / 6.7oz.
Country of Origin: Italy
Manufacturer website: https://www.divinamarket.com
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