Maerdy Gras

Not just any stereotypical Louisianna style sauce, which is made with just three ingredients - Chillies, Spirit vinegar and salt. Not only does it have a mild heat, making it an ideal accompaniment to pretty much everything - from drizzling over your poached eggs on toast, to adding to your pizza tomato base, to pouring over you chips, or finishing off your bloody mary. Oh no, this sauce has a story...
 
A long long time ago, in a valley far far away (unless you’re from South Wales), there lived a man who wanted to travel the world. One day, he set out from his beloved home, deep in the heart of the Rhondda valley, and set out across the seas, with only the clothes on his back, and a clump of turf from his beloved home town – Maerdy. From continent to continent the man travelled, enjoying his stops, but nowhere felt quite like home, until one day he arrived in a town in the Americas, called New Orleans. Immediately the intrepid traveller felt at home, and in no time at all, he purchased a small holding, and promptly dug into the ground, his beloved clump of turf from his home town. 

To celebrate, once a year, the man would drink a toast to his hometown. Word of this quickly passed around the town, and soon into neighbouring towns, until the toast became an annual carnival. And the centrepoint for this carnival was the mans home turf. The carnivals quickly became known as the celebration of the Maerdy Grass. Over time, the name, and pronunciation, adapted (mostly thanks to the settling of French colonies), and the once popular celebration of the Maerdy Grass slowly transformed into its current Mardi Gras.

We’ve named this sauce in loving memory of a nameless Taff, and his patch of turf. A Louisiana style sauce, from the heart of Wales.