Hot Mamma: the story and recipe of our Italian spicy oil

Every family in Italy has a jar it will not share. Ours is called Hot Mamma: a spicy oil and a spicy sauce, born from one family recipe and one very good morning at the market.

How it started: Rome, 1998

It was a morning in Rome. I had just woken up, with my friend Luca and my cousin Duccio, and we decided to go to the market. The sun was shining and right there, between the watermelon and the tomatoes, I saw her: the Hot Mamma, choosing chilies.

The answer was very easy. I hit on the mama, and eventually, I also made the sauce.

Everyone has loved it since then. We used to sell thousands of bottles a month in Hong Kong, and today you find it on the table at Segreto in Bangkok.

The ingredients

No powders and no shortcuts. Fresh vegetables, a lot of chilies and a long slow cook.

• Fresh chili peppers, a lot of them

• Fresh tomatoes

• Fresh red capsicum

• Onion, carrots and celery

• Garlic

• Fresh parsley and basil

• Dried oregano

• Olive oil

• Red wine and red wine vinegar

• Sugar and salt

• A little citric acid for the sauce

How we make it

1. Pour the olive oil into a big pan.

2. Chop all the ingredients finely and add them to the oil.

3. Add the red wine.

4. Cook everything for 3 hours from the boiling point.

5. Add the vinegar and boil for 1 more hour.

6. Filter out all the oil. This is the Hot Mamma spicy oil.

7. Add the citric acid to what is left and blend until creamy. This is the Hot Mamma spicy sauce.

One pot, two products: the oil for your pasta, your pizza and your bread, the creamy sauce for everything else.

Taste it at Segreto

The quantities stay in the family. The taste you can try at our chef's table on Sukhumvit 26, Bangkok, where I cook live in front of you. Hot Mamma: only at Segreto. Book now on our Experiences page or on WhatsApp 065 115 8748.