The "Q" Review has sampled and reviewed a wide range of products over the past several months. It's been my pleasure to step outside the familiar world of traditional American BBQ to sample diverse, ethnic inspired products. The products that I received from Kilimanjaro Foods are the most exotic to date.

Kilimanjaro Foods produces African sauces and spices inspired by the Cafe Kilimanjaro (Louisville, KY)restaurant. Three associates (The Chef, The Entrepreneur and the Restaurant Owner) combined their experience, their resources and their passion for food to create Kilimanjaro Foods. The endeavor started with their signature Jerk Sauce and has expanded into a line of seven unique products.

The first Kilimanjaro product that I sampled was their signature Jerk Sauce. I'm a huge fan of Caribbean style jerk sauces. I was interested to see how the African inspired sauce compared to the jerks I had previously encountered. Kilimanjaro's Jerk Sauce is dark brown and speckled with black spices. It's fairly thick, but pours smoothly.

The aroma is rich, sweet and full of spice. The flavor is very unique and difficult to describe. There is a deep sweetness, but it's contrasted sharply by earthy spices. I found some slight similarities with the Caribbean jerk sauces that I'm used to, but this African sauce definitely stands on its own.

Kilimanjaro's Jerk Sauce doesn't have the spicy heat we typically associate with jerk sauces. Caribbean style sauces feature fiery ingredients like scotch bonnet and habanero peppers. There is no discernible amount of heat in this African sauce. That's not to say it's not spicy. The sauce is loaded with diverse earthy spices. I can't quite place all of them. What I can say is that the combination of spices gives sauce a multi layered flavor profile that I don't find in a lot of sauces.

I brushed the sauce on marinated chicken breasts as they grilled. The sauce worked nicely as a finishing glaze. The sugars charred leaving beautiful grill marks. The flavors of the sauce were also enhanced by the heat of the flame.

In addition to chicken, I could see this sauce being very good on grilled or baked fish. The Kilimanjaro Foods website has several great recipes using their Jerk Sauce. They suggest their sauce for everything from corn muffins to pasta salads.

To learn more about Kilimanjaro Foods products, click the title of this review. See how I rate their Jerk Sauce on the "Product Reviews" page.