Pickapeppa Sauce (Jamaican)

Pickapeppa, the national sauce of Jamaica, is a complex, fruity, savoury seasoning sauce. It's reminiscent of steak sauce, but with a tropical kick, traditionally aged in barrels. Luckily it's fairly easy to make your own (minus the barrels). Pickapeppa sauce has a long ingredient list, but that's what gives the sauce its signature complexity. The sauce has a tomato and vinegar base. The type of vinegar used in the proprietary sauce is cane (sugar) vinegar. I was not able to find it, so I looked up its flavour profile and discovered it's a mild-tasting vinegar. I substituted apple cider vinegar, which I saw suggested by many sources. Dried chilies and raisins are another important component. The guajillo chile is mandatory, but for the spicy pepper, you can go with either aji amarillo or chile de arbol (I used the latter). Just the one will add a tiny kick to the sauce, but it won't make it hot; this is a mild sauce. Add more heat if you like, of course.

Equipment:
1-2 jars, for storing
immersion blender or other blender
funnel
fine-mesh sieve, for straining

1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup cane or other mild vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
½ medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
½ ripe mango, cubed
½ cup raisins
1 small dried aji amarillo chile or chile de arbol
1 medium dried guajillo chile
3 Tbsp. raw sugar
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. tamarind paste
⅓ tsp. dried thyme
⅛ tsp. ground clove
kosher or sea salt
white or black pepper, freshly cracked

Combine all sauce ingredients in a medium-sized pot.

Bring the mixture to a full simmer over medium heat. When it is close to a boil, lower the heat to low and cover. Cook for half an hour, until the chilies and raisins are thoroughly softened.

Remove the pot from the heat. Remove the chilies and place on a cutting boad. When cool enough to handle, cut off the stems and remove as many of the seeds as possible. Return the de-stemmed and seeded chilies to the pot.

Using an immersion blender, purée the mixture thoroughly. Strain through a fine sieve, forcing somewhat through. Discard the solids.

Place a funnel in a prepared jar. Into the funnel, place a small, fine-meshed sieve. Strain the sauce through the sieve into the jar, pressing down with a spoon to extract as much of the sauce as possible. There will be a fair amount of pulp left over, which should be discarded.

Allow the sauce to cool and thicken, then store in the refrigerator for several weeks.