Chilean Merquen Smoked Chili Corked Bottle, Sea Salt, 1 Ounce

This stuff is incredible!! I never want to be without it. I have already purchased some for gifts. Smoky, hot, salty, cumin-y. These 1oz jars are tiny but a little goes a long way! I just taste tested it by itself in order to write this review on the flavor and alone it is quite hot. A slow burn that keeps on burning. On and on and on - in fact while I am writing this my tongue is getting hotter and hotter (probably a mistake to eat this by itself) but in the interests of writing an authentic review, I am prepared to sacrifice (the heat still isn't abating) I purchased the 1oz to try it and before I finished it purchased the service pack of 10.58oz (when it arrived it was a much larger jar than expected so that was a terrific surprise) I love it on avocado toast (with some pepper, salt flakes and lemon) it is also great on roast chicken with lemon, on steaks as part of a rub with some garlic, salt, pepper, on any kind of winter stew that would benefit from heat and a little bit of smoke, vegetables, lamb chops, actually pretty much anything is better with the smoky spiciness of Merquen! If you are on the fence about it buy the 1oz bottle and I expect that like me soon you will find you are reaching for it constantly. The jar states: Product of Chile. Ingredients are Chili, Salt, Dehyrated coriander seeds, cumin. I am assuming that it is the authentic goat horn chili mentioned in the listing, but the jar doesn't specify that. But I have dozens of different chiles in my spice pantry and this doesn't taste like any other chili variety. have ever had. Given, Merquen has cumin and coriander too but the smoked chili flavor itself comes through strongly and it is a very unique addition to my collection. NOTE:The heat abated by the time I finished typing this review. I would call this a medium-hot heat(by itself) But for people who can't tolerate too much heat, the flavor of this is so smoky and wonderful that even if you only use a tiny bit to keep down the heat, you will still taste the smoky cumin-y top notes. So don't let my comments about the heat dissuade you from purchasing it, because it really doesnt come across as a medium-hot heat on food (only when you eat it like I did, by itself) more a medium well balanced heat (mellow slow as opposed to a sharp fast kick)

I wish this was ground more finely, as others have commented, but a little effort with mortar and pestle and it's great. You can't beat the flavor and the price was SO reasonable. Came across merken in a cooking class in Valpairaiso, Chili. If you enjoy cooking and trying new things, this spice mixture is great on so many things. I even sprinkled some sparingly on top of deviled eggs and everyone wanted to know what it was. The smoky flavor really comes through. It is spicy (hot), so be careful if you've not used it before. Incredible in homemade chili as well in a salad dressing.

I purchased to make pembre but discover it’s great for a ton of other recipes. Nice Smokey flavor, not overly spicy. So perfect. I like this better than the ground version. I just used smoked paprika if a recipe calls for ground or this if I can get away with it.

Despite only discovering it a few months ago, I really like using this Merquén spice. It's the sort of spice that's versatile-- it's good on beef, pork and poultry (and would be on lamb, I'm sure, but I haven't tried it yet); and it can be used in a marinade (olive oil or red wine based), as a meat dry rub before grilling, and even as a table condiment. My go-to dish with it is a Chilean classic: a thin steak (of cheap cut), marinated and then fried, served with a fried egg cooked in the same pan on top. Merquén, developed by the Mapuche Indians of Chile, is made from dried smoked goat's horn peppers, with coriander and salt. It's as much a smoky taste as a hot one, although it certainly does pack some heat. One thing to point out-- while the one-ounce bottle I first tried ran out much too quickly, the Etnia "food service" size is a *big* bottle. When they say "food service", they're apparently referring to restaurant use. I decided to take advantage, and do a little culinary evangelizing-- my daughter is a serious cook, but had never tried Merquén, so she received an ounce from us. It's always good to be able to remind the younger generation that we can still teach them things. Recommended.

I bought this because I absolutely love the taste of merken, and use it for almost all my meals, and the last stash that a relative brought from Chile is now sadly gone. This is definitely a good replacement, with perfectly authentic flavor, but absurdly expensive compared to the price I paid for a LARGE bag at the Temuco market in Chile. Sadly, there aren't a lot of options, and it's cheaper than the cost of the trip to Chile, so as long as there aren't any alternatives, I suppose I have to take it as a comfort luxury.

I came across this on a recent trip to South America. As I understand it is not a popular spice in Chile, but I'd have to say they don't know what they're. A really nice alternative to pepper flakes, chipotle, and habenero (over rated). It is actually a blend of spices and seasonings. I purchased several grams in the farmer's market in Santiago and was not disappointed. If one wants details there are several positing on the internet. There is another spice, which so far as eluded me: the seed(or maybe berry) from the Canolo tree. This is also marketed in Chile and has not found its way north. Both are very tasty and not overwhelmingly hot..