ABOUT
Heat with heart,
made in Brisbane
A small business in a world of big corporations. One chilli, done properly, packed dry and cooked in the jar — the way we learnt to love it in Taiwan.
It all started — Hsinchu, Taiwan
It started with a noodle shop
The Taste Peddler was founded in a home kitchen by a 'mostly' vegetarian cook with an unhealthy obsession with food. It all started with a batch of chilli crisp.
The addiction to chilli is a homage to years spent backpacking and teaching English in Hsinchu, Taiwan, where dinner meant a local noodle shop and lashings of crispy chilli oil. No matter the meal, chilli oil lifted it.
After supplying endless jars to friends, the Taste Peddler was born — a small business in a world of big corporations, making everything from scratch. Hand made, hand labelled, carefully sourced and packed in recyclable packaging. Why so fussy? Simple: we eat our products too.
"Spice and umami. Crispy chewy bits and big crunchy bits of luxurious cashew."
THE FIRST TEACHER
Before all of it,
there was Mum
Long before Taiwan, before markets and jars and labels, there was my mum — the most incredible cook I know and the greatest mentor I'll ever have in food. She never taught from a recipe. She taught by feeding people, endlessly and generously, and expecting you to pay attention while she did it.
Taste as you go. Season with your hands. Don't serve anything you wouldn't be happy to eat twice. Make more than you need, because someone always turns up. Everything fussy about the way we make chilli crisp — the single chilli, the small batches, the refusal to cut a corner nobody would notice — came from her kitchen first.
Taiwan gave me the chilli. Benny sharpened the technique. Mum gave me the reason: that food is how you look after the people you love.
"Cook it like someone you love is eating it."
THE PEOPLE WHO TAUGHT ME
Taiwan taught me
to eat properly
Hsinchu was where food stopped being fuel. Teaching English by day, eating my way through night markets by night — pepper buns pulled straight off the barrel oven, beef noodle soup at midnight, smoke, steam and chilli oil in everything. I learnt to order by pointing, and to trust the stall with the longest queue and the fewest menu items.
What stuck wasn't a recipe. It was the rhythm of it: one thing done properly, cooked in front of you, shared at a plastic table with strangers. Chilli oil was never the star — it was the thing that made everything else taste like more of itself.
That love came home with me, and so did the people. This is Benny, my other mentor and the reason a lot of what I cook tastes the way it does. He taught me heat, timing and patience — and that a good sauce should never hide the ingredient it's on. The night this was taken we did lobster through fresh pasta, finished with our Truffle Hot Sauce. Every jar we make is trying to earn a place at that table.
What we believe
One chilli
A single chilli variety, toasted properly. No muddled blends, no filler heat — you should be able to taste what you're eating.
Crisp that stays crisp
Most chilli oils go soft and mushy in the jar. Ours doesn't, because it's packed dry and cooked in its own jar.
Made by hand
Small batch, hand filled, hand labelled, recyclable packaging. Fussy on purpose — we eat our products too.
Mostly vegetarian
Founded by a 'mostly' vegetarian cook with an unhealthy obsession with food. The chilli crisp does the heavy lifting.
THE PROCESS
Packed dry.
Cooked in the jar.
- 01
Source
One chilli, cashews, black beans, coconut sugar and aromatics — chosen jar by jar, not by the pallet.
- 02
Caramelise
Black beans go dark and chewy in coconut sugar. That's the savoury backbone under the heat.
- 03
Pack dry
Every jar is filled dry by hand — flakes, crushed cashew, beans and aromatics, layered in.
- 04
Cook in the jar
Oil goes over the top and the whole thing cooks in its own jar. That's why the crunch survives the shelf.
- 05
Choose your oil
Same crisp, your call: rounder extra virgin olive, or clean and neutral canola.
- 06
Label and go
Hand labelled in Brisbane, then out to markets, stockists and doorsteps around the country.
Come say hello
Find us at Brisbane markets most weekends, or get a jar sent to your door. Free shipping on four or more.