{"id":113,"date":"2022-09-08T08:29:23","date_gmt":"2022-09-08T08:29:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/autopot.co.uk\/garden\/2022\/09\/08\/flavour-before-fire\/"},"modified":"2023-06-02T12:57:47","modified_gmt":"2023-06-02T12:57:47","slug":"flavour-before-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/autopot.co.uk\/garden\/2022\/09\/08\/flavour-before-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"Flavour Before Fire"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is at the heart, the absolute centre, the omphalos<\/a> of a chilli sauce? Should one focus on; Flavour<\/span> Before Fire? Perchance; Flavour Before<\/span> Fire? Or a tail-stinging; Flavour Before Fire<\/span>? Who better to give their take on this question than a chilli grower and condiment producer whose rampant plants have been piquing our interest in recent months and whose name, by sheer coincidence, is Flavour Before Fire<\/a>? This month we placed our emphasis squarely on an informative and inspirational chat with their grower and saucier-in-chief Marc Elliot.<\/p>

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Above: Get your Cullercoats, it\u2019s chilli outside! Marc presents his artisan wares at festivals aplenty, check out his website for upcoming outings<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

On the question of emphasis it is pure heat, the \u2018fire\u2019, that will always be the keystone of sauce production for Marc. Indeed, without that heat all you have is a sauce, however delicious the sauce may be. Despite the broadening of tastes and the increased range of available flavours, in Marc\u2019s experience demand for prickling spice is a constant. \u2018The question \u201cwhich one is your hottest?\u201d is an immortal one that I\u2019ll hear many, many times over when I am selling at markets and events, so I like to give them what they want!\u2019 <\/p>

For this reason Marc mostly grows chillies from the Capsicum Chinense<\/a> family where, in his opinion \u2018you\u2019ll find the hottest and tastiest varieties on Earth. They originate from the Americas, although many of them are modern hybrid creations due to chillies being able to cross pollinate. These work very well in the type of cuisine that I love most, like Indian, Caribbean, Mexican and Cajun.\u2019 This wide spectrum of compatible cuisines reflects the fact that even the hottest chillies offer a super-abundant repository of diverse flavours with which Marc can subtly surprise and delight customers.<\/p>

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Above: Trinidad Scorpions thriving in an Auto8 module<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

Speaking in tongues of flavoursome fire, Marc described some qualities of his core crop. \u2018Scotch Bonnets, Habaneros, Trinidad Scorpions, Hurt Berries<\/a>, Scotch Brains and Burmese Nagas have a lovely fruity flavour. Most other Nagas and Carolina Reapers have a floral flavour. Yellow Moruga<\/a> have an almost musky but fruity flavour. Elephant Trunks are quite earthy and a little sweet once ripe. The fruitiness of the Scotch Bonnet tends to work best with Caribbean flavours and fruit based sauces. I find the floral taste of a Naga works best with Indian flavours and tomato based sauces.\u2019Dextrously combining and manipulating the characteristics of chillies requires a ready, regular, and kaleidoscopic supply of fruit. Marc has these bases comprehensively covered. <\/p>

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Above: Mixed Red Nagas ready to perform their God-given role in life: to excite and delight!<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

Flavour Before Fire\u2019s growing operation allows for small-footprint, high-yield artisan chilli cultivation<\/a> providing the exact flavour profiles required for the sustainable production of highly individual sauces, marinades, preserves, and powders. In a nutshell, Marc is able to create the exact expression of chilli he requires, as-and-when he requires it, without breaking the bank. Efficient sauce production with no compromises on quality or variety allows Marc\u2019s passion project to remain a distinctive yet viable proposition even in financially straightened times. This should be a ray of hope to all those who still aspire to afford and enjoy the fierier things in life. Marc kindly talked us through how all this is achieved with reference to his growing calendar, feed schedule, substrate choices, and cultivation system.<\/p>

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Above: The only way is up, literally. Halfway through the season and Marc\u2019s Auto8-grown plants are already filling out nicely<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

\u2018Owing to the fact that chillies are non-native to the UK the seeds must be started early, as we don\u2019t have the right climate for them here until late spring. I start mine in January and they\u2019re raised indoors under LED lights until the danger of frosts has passed. This is usually late April.\u2019<\/p>

During the early stages Marc hand feeds using Old Timer Grow<\/a>, a good quality organic nitrogen feed from Plant Magic, together with some Canna CalMag<\/a>. Once the young plants go into the polytunnel he switches to Greenhouse Sensation\u2019s Nutrigrow<\/a> mineral feed which is nicely balanced, along with a little Calmag. Once the plants are starting to produce fruit, he moves to a more potassium-rich feed. This year he\u2019s looking forward to trying out Shogun nutrients<\/a> for the fruiting stage after the guys there generously sent him a selection of their products. <\/p>

Canna Terra Professional<\/a> with added perlite serves as ideal, bio-friendly, free-draining-yet-water-retaining substrate. These principles have seen him in good stead since 2017 but its Marc\u2019s choice of cultivation system that has had a decisive effect this season. <\/p>

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Above: Dangling and jangling, some exceedingly chilli sp-icicles in the shape of Trinidad Scorpions and Carolina Reapers<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

\u2018Following a recommendation from an experienced chilli grower I know called Dianne from Pasture Fire<\/a> in Lincolnshire I\u2019ve refitted with AutoPot Auto8s<\/a> for 2022. I liked the idea of there being just one AQUAvalve to maintain and the 9mm pipework and fittings that means there\u2019s no real chance of blockages throughout the season. In the past I\u2019ve used NFT (Nutrient Film Technique) which requires a hydroponic approach with pH monitoring\/adjustment and uses a pump that needs a power supply. The difference with AutoPot is that they don\u2019t require electricity or pH adjustment (if growing using soil) so are a lot less work.\u2019 The Auto8s have also proved devilishly productive.<\/p>

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Above: Licensed to chilli: Marc\u2019s got more spice than MI6!<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

\u2018Some of my other chilli plants are being fed by wicks and they\u2019re nowhere near as big as the ones in AutoPots, even though they\u2019re the same age, on the same feed, in the same environment and in even in slightly bigger pots. Chillies are greedy feeders and given the chance they\u2019ll grow very big. Some of mine are over 5ft tall now and it\u2019s only halfway through the season!\u2019 Marc\u2019s top piece of advice when using AutoPot relates to forward planning and readiness for the plans you can expect to see. \u2018Make sure you add support for the plants, as they grow very big and will need it when they start growing fruit. With AutoPots, you don\u2019t grow plants \u2013 you grow monsters!\u2019<\/p>

See Marc\u2019s monsters bear fruit @flavourbeforefire<\/a>, taste the fruit of his monsters (!?) at any number of events attended by Marc<\/a> or purchase via his online store<\/a> today! Our hearty congrats to Marc on what is a beautifully scaled, sublimely delicious seed to table operation. Flavour? Before? Fire? He\u2019s got it all!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is at the heart, the absolute centre, the omphalos of a chilli sauce? Should one focus on; Flavour Before Fire? Perchance; Flavour Before Fire? Or a tail-stinging; Flavour Before Fire? Who better to give their take on this question than a chilli grower and condiment producer whose rampant plants have been piquing our interest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":755,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-garden","category-autopot-news-september-2022"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/autopot.co.uk\/garden\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/09\/Flavour_Main.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/autopot.co.uk\/garden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/autopot.co.uk\/garden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/autopot.co.uk\/garden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autopot.co.uk\/garden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autopot.co.uk\/garden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/autopot.co.uk\/garden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":756,"href":"https:\/\/autopot.co.uk\/garden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113\/revisions\/756"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autopot.co.uk\/garden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/autopot.co.uk\/garden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autopot.co.uk\/garden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autopot.co.uk\/garden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}