Review: D’ELidas Picante Chambo is a solid Panamanian sauce
I love to travel, and one of my favorite things to do when I’m out of the country is to try new foods — especially spicy foods.
Last fall, my husband and I spent a week in Panama, split between Panama City and Boquete. While we were in Boquete we stayed in a place with a full kitchen, which gave me an excuse to buy a couple of hot sauces at the local market! My priority was to find something under 3oz so that I could take it home with me in my carryon, and this tiny bottle of D’Elidas was one of the ones I tried.
Want more spicy food reviews? Sign up for updates to be the first to know when a new review is published!
About D’ELidas Habanero Hot Sauce
D’ELidas is a Panamanian brand, and the hot sauces and many of the ingredients originate from Panama. In Boquete at least there are huge pepper farms, so I’m assuming ingredients such as peppers and tomatoes are sourced locally in production.
The recipe is a traditional Antillana-Panamanian recipe, combining hot peppers, tomatoes, onions, vinegar, and spices. I found the hot sauce to be bright and tart.
How hot is it?
D’ELidas Picante Chombo is a solid “medium” on the heat scale. It is made with habanero, so it can be compared to other habanero sauces, like some of the Marie Sharp types.
Wikipedia puts the Scoville score (SHU) of this product at 2,500–5,000 SHU without citing sources, which seems very low to me from personal experience and comparing it to other habanero sauces, so I’m skeptical. The brand has not published the SHU, but I have reached out to the North American branch for comment and will update the article if I am able to find out.
The bottom line is, D’ELidas Picante Chombo provides a noticeable kick — hotter than Tabasco or Sriracha. Still, it is not so spicy that it overpowers all of the other flavors in your food.
How to use it
Per the brand’s website, they recommend using D’Elidas on chicken wings and pizza. While I was in Panama I was using it with my breakfast of scrambled eggs and tortillas (Panamanian tortillas are much different than what we think of as “tortillas” in the US!) I would definitely use this sauce on pizza or wings, and I think it would go great with just about any meat, on tacos, and in soups.
D’Elidas hot sauce nutrition info
This is the nutrition facts panel on the bottle that I purchased in Panama — note: each country has different regulation that dictates what information is included on packaging and how it is presented, so the US-version of this product probably looks different.
If you haven’t brushed up on your Spanish recently, this hot sauce contains four calories and 1g of carbs per serving. It is relatively low carb, but it does have added sugars in small amounts so if you are following the keto or Whole30 diet you may not be comfortable with the nutrition.
Full ingredients list (in English)
White Wine Vinegar, Roasted Tomatoes, Habanero Peppers, Onion, Sugar, Prepared Mustard, Water, Kosher Salt, Herbs and Spices
Where to buy D’Elidas hot sauce
This section of the article contains affiliate links, which means that if you click and purchase we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Assuming you’re shopping from the United States, finding D’Elidas in your local grocery store might be tricky.
D’Elidas has a North American branch with an e-commerce website, but all of their products are listed as out of stock.It is available from the Walmart website, but they do not stock it locally in my area in Walmart or Kroger. If you have a Latin American grocer near you, you might check there.
However, D’Elidas Picante Chombo is available on Amazon, and the prices aren’t too offensive, so that will be the easiest way to buy it for most people. Click here to shop on Amazon.
