The Ultimate Sauce: the Maple Pikanté Sauce

I am really happy to finally be able to tell you about our Maple Pikanté sauce. This sauce is the one that took JP, my brother, the longest time to create (he’s the flavor magician behind all of our sauces and dry marinades). He worked on it for approximately 2 years, so we’re really proud of the final result. It tastes REALLY good. 🙌

What did we want to achieve with this sauce? We aimed for 3 things: 1) to create a sauce that taste like and represents Canada, where we’re from; 2) to give birth to the ULTIMATE sauce; and 3) to conceive a sauce that would be able to win the biggest BBQ sauce competition in the world, the American Royal in Kansas City. (No pressure there, oh no. 😬) In all honesty, I think that we brought to life something BIG. I can’t wait to hear your feedback!

 

What is the Maple Pikanté sauce?

The Maple Pikanté sauce is a sweet and spicy sauce that has a really nice balance of flavors. Its sweet taste comes from the flavors of the maple and its spicy taste from the ghost peppers that it contains.

My brother is a big ghost pepper fan. He finds them very tasty and flavorsome. Even though they are one of the spiciest peppers in the world, he finds that they are the best of them all. That said, his goal wasn’t to create a spicy sauce, so he didn’t put a lot of it in. Just like a ghost, when trying it, the taste of the ghost pepper will tingle the tip of your tongue and heat up your palate before disappearing. Yes, it is spicy, but it is not “hot” or “fiery”.

Otherwise, it is a syrupy and sticky finishing sauce. It adheres well to meats and gives them a beautiful shiny look. Truly, you’ll get incredible caramelized barks with it.

You can also use it on pretty much everything, especially on the cuts of meat that are used in BBQ competitions (more about that in a bit). Its taste is unique and wonderful.

 

How sweet and spicy is it?

If I had to grade its spiciness level, I would say that it would be a 3 or a 3.5 out of 5 (5 being the spiciest). It “tingles”, but doesn’t burn. Compared to our other sauces, I would say that Ketchot is the most intense, then Funky Chili, and then, Maple Pikanté.

When it comes to its sweetness, however, it is one of our sweetest, but its taste is well balanced with the heatness of the pepper. Its maple flavor is really heavenly, though.

 

Maple Pikanté versus Maple Bourbon

In both of these sauces’ ingredient list, there is some maple and some bourbon. Their ratio, however, is completely different. Maple Bourbon has a tomato-y taste while Maple Pikanté has more of a sweet and spicy taste. Maple Pikanté is also spicier than Maple Bourbon (we didn’t name it like that for nothing 😉) since neither sauce is made with the same pepper.

If you take a spoonful of Maple Bourbon, you will feel its hot side for longer than if you took one of Maple Pikanté. As I mentioned earlier, Maple Pikanté is made with ghost peppers, so its effect is rather short.

Otherwise, they both have a different texture. Maple Bourbon is thicker, while Maple Pikanté has more of a syrupy consistency and is stickier.

 

What’s the best thing about Maple Pikanté?

This sauce is simply perfect. The combination and balance of flavors are really wonderful.

It can be paired with everything. Its touch of heat and its spicy side make it a must with ribs, chicken, steak, salmon… all that you want!

 

How to use this sauce and what to pair it with?

This finishing sauce gives the best results when it is lacquered onto food at the end of the cooking session. In the last 5 minutes, baste it onto your meat and shut down your grill’s lid. Let the sauce caramelize onto your protein for 5 minutes and take a bite out of your creation afterwards. 5 minutes seems like an eternity? (I feel you! 😜) You can also baste it onto your meat once it’s done cooking and enjoy it right away!

You’re not sure of which protein to use? The best meats to marry this sauce with, the “SAINT-GRAAL” of all meats, are ribs, pork, and chicken. That said, this sauce is also surprisingly delicious on steaks or salmon.

Made to make you drool and taste more, I highly suggest that you pair this sauce with our Kansas, Sweet Kansas or Tex-Max dry marinade for phenomenal results.

I can’t wait for you to try it!

 

Happy grilling!