Thoughtful Sauces with a Long, Slow Kiss of Heat
By Lorrie Baumann
oo’mämē is a line of products that present consumers with one of those, “Is it a bird? Is it a plane?” moments. The labels for oo’mämē Mexican Chile Infusion and oo’mämē Chinese Chile Infusion both promise “1001 Uses. One Spoon,” and a look past the label and through the glass to the product itself automatically begins suggesting some of those uses to the savvy home cook. Visible through the glass are flakes immediately identifiable as chiles along with ingredients like pieces of dried fruits and whole seeds that are meticulously listed in the product’s ingredient label. Clearly, oo’mämē Founder Mark Engel is not a proponent of the five-ingredients-or-less school of thought, since these 14-ingredient lists eschew simplicity in favor of complexity and depth, a promise that’s redeemed in full once the jar is opened and the spicy aromas of culinary traditions developed through eons of experience waft into the atmosphere. “These recipes are hacks to make great food easily,” Engel said. “You can do anything with it, but everyone has his own way.”
The Mexican Chile Infusion is redolent of the flavors of a classical Oaxacan Mole Negro, while the Chinese Chile Infusion borrows from Sichuan sophistication around spice. These sauces were designed with organoleptic properties to work like mise en place in a jar, an assemblage of ingredients all ready for either a beginner in the kitchen or a home cook with advanced skills to create flavor and complexity in a dish with a simple counter-clockwise twist of a jar lid. The chiles are crispy to add texture as well as spice; the seeds are toasted for crunch as well as depth of flavor; bits of dried fruit are chewy; and the ginger is sweet. “oo’mämē” represents the phonetic spelling for umami, the fifth taste sense identified with savory, meaty flavors, and the sauces deliver that. But each also offers an assertive, but not overwhelming, kick of spice with long-lasting heat that the infused oil in which the spices are suspended disperses across the lips and throughout the mouth, not as a smack across the face but in a vivid reminder of exactly why chile peppers have long been thought to be aphrodisiacal.
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The oil is high-oleic sunflower oil. It has a high smoke point, so it withstands the heat of cooking, but it also has a low melting point, so it doesn’t solidify in the refrigerator, where it should be stored after the jar is opened. The oil can be spooned out and used either with or without the inclusions as an oil for stir-frying, as a finishing oil, as the spice for a vegetable dip, to stir into mayonnaise for a sandwich spread, to spoon over scrambled eggs or to add zip to a soup or a stew. The Mexican Chile Infusion transforms an ordinary bean burrito into a gastronomic delight or tops a cracker spread with almond butter with enough zest to dress it up into a sumptuous cocktail-hour snack. “I created these chile sauces to make cooking easier for me and my family,” Engel said. “I wanted to have great-tasting food, but I didn’t want to spend an hour prepping every night.”
Engel’s own favorite uses for the sauces include mixing them into nut butters to use as a dressing for grilled meats, rice or noodles. “When you put it on top of a runny egg, it’s nothing short of heaven,” he added.
oo’mämē sauces are made in the U.S., and they’re plant-based, with low sodium and gluten free. Two new flavors will be out this summer: Indian Chile Infusion and Moroccan Chile Infusion. “Chile is always the backbone, because that’s what we do,” Engel said. The sauces are packaged in 9.2-ounce wide-mouth glass jars that retail for $16 each. For more information, visit www.oomame.net.