Sweet Chilli Crime

In my travels around the supermarkets and cafes of Sydney this year I have noticed a disturbing trend. Sweet Chilli sauce..that perennial fave sauce hailing from Thailand is starting to pop up everywhere and in some very disturbing guises.

Once upon a time sweet chilli sauce lived in its natural habitat - in bottles on the tables of thai restaurants or nestled in a pot next to some curry puffs or spring rolls. As time went on and Aussies discovered the delights of sweet chilli some bright spark discovered that it also tasted very nice with potato wedges and a bit of sour cream....these early days back in the late 90's were the golden years.

A little bit of experimentation can be a good thing and a little bit of something tasty is also good but just because something tastes nice doesn't mean that it needs to go everywhere. In 2007 things seemed to have gotten waaay waaay out of control in my opinion and many a sweet chilli crime has been comitted. The list of horrors I have compiled in my travels is very long and far too distressing for public consumption but here are just a few of the crimes I've witnessed recently:

Sweet chilli foccacia
felefal, hommus and sweet chilli sauce kebabs
Sweet chilli and vege pasta
And my personal favourite: sweet chilli dolmades - a true nasty crossing of the cultures where salty vinegary savoury greek meets sticky sweet thai, what an international stomach turner. I've now got my eyes peeled for sweet chilli gelato - surely it can't be far away.