Fire up the flavour

For Laurel Hydes, one of the best parts of making pepper jellies is getting customer feedback.

The North Side resident’s homemade jellies have drawn accolades across the Cayman Islands – and beyond – with social media posts giving them five-star reviews and recommendations.

Word-of-mouth also helped build the business, which she started from her home four years ago.

“I thoroughly enjoy it, and with all the positive feedback, it is very encouraging,” she says.

Laurel’s unique flavours and combinations stand out – such as olives, basil and strawberry or pumpkin and cranberry – so much so they caught the attention of celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern, known for his ‘Bizarre Foods’ series on the Travel Channel, during this year’s Cayman Cookout.

Laurel was invited to showcase her jellies at a cookout event called Flavours of Cayman held on The Great Lawn at the Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman. Chef Zimmern was host of the event.

“It was great to meet him,” she says. “He was full of praises for my jellies and said that my booth was the only one he stopped at twice. As the saying goes, that was a good ‘big up’.”

A complimentary jar of her pepper jelly was placed in the guest room of each Cayman Cookout chef upon their arrival.

“I went through that jar the first night,” Chef Zimmern told the crowd during the Flavours of Cayman event. “I warmed it in the microwave and then put it over vanilla ice cream – like you would caramel or hot fudge.

“Then I took some cheese – a piece of blue cheese and a piece of goat cheese – and smeared the hot pepper jelly all over it. I ate that for breakfast the next morning.”

He’s kept in touch with Laurel, via email and by tagging her in posts.

“It’s a great endorsement,” she says.

Growing exposure

Her jellies are getting attention from the corporate community as well, with several global law firms and financial services companies placing orders.

Her jellies are available at Foster’s Supermarket locations, Kirk Market, Icoa Eat + Drink and Jacques Scott locations. Several resorts and rental condos also put a complimentary jar of pepper jelly in their guest rooms.

Laurel prepares custom orders for weddings, bridal showers and other special occasions. They’re popular at Christmas to put inside gift baskets.

She does all this while holding down a full-time job at Cayman National Bank. Laurel makes her jellies at home, and often does deliveries during her lunch break.

“I’m really busy,” she says. “And I’m really grateful.”

She has around 15 pepper jelly flavours including original, pumpkin – Laurel’s favourite – olive, kiwi, cranberry, mango, guava, Otaheite apple and sea grape. For the Christmas holiday season, sorrel, pumpkin and cranberry jellies are popular, and for those who like it hot, there’s the N-Side Fiya Extremely Spicy.

Laurel has her own Scotch bonnet pepper garden, and sources most ingredients locally and in-season.

What she can’t source locally, she gets from the supermarket to create a combination of flavours, such as mixed berries, strawberry and cranberry.

“I am always looking to try new ingredients,” says Laurel.

That’s how the business originally came to be – with Laurel experimenting in the kitchen while she was on vacation at home in the summer of 2015.

“From there, Laurel’s Pepper Jellies was born,” she says.

The jellies come in three different sizes, and can be enjoyed with a variety of meats, cheeses, crackers and breads.

“People are telling me they put my jellies on just about anything,” says Laurel.

Laurel can make a batch – 24 bottles – in about 45 minutes, filling orders large and small. The largest order she’s had to date was for 90 cases – 1,080 bottles.

“The process of getting the right balance between the base flavour, of say pumpkin or olives, with just the right amount of heat is key,” she says.

She can customise the jellies to taste – adding heat for some, toning it down for others.

“I like people to shoot me an email if they find it too spicy, or too sweet,” she says. “I like to get the feedback.”

Originally published in InsideOut magazine, Issue 37, Spring Summer 2020.