By Matthew Boudreau, Contributing Columnist
It is a sunny Wednesday evening as I drive into the parking lot at Sobey’s in Clayton Park. Darris and Vivian have agreed to provide my wife with a charitable donation which I am picking up. I scan the parking lot and spot a very purple van, surely this has to be the Nurple van. They are parked a few spots in front of the Westside. I pull into a spot and walk over.
“Hey, it’s our favourite beer guy” Darris exclaims to me. We catch up for a few minutes about the end of Serpent Brewing and how their business is faring. I mention that in my newfound time I am writing for the Parkview News and ask if they will do an interview for our readers. This would be a rather short article if they said, “no”, so naturally they agreed.
Darris, a retired military veteran, and Vivian are the owners of the Nurple Sauce Company which specializes in making hot sauces from local ingredients. All their batches are handmade, and they sell at farmers markets, breweries, distilleries, and community events. They have a right-hand drive Kei Van which tops out at 100 KM/H which Darris and a friend drove back from the west coast of Canada. Their nine flavours range from mild to extremely spicy and include Castle Bravo with a sweet Thai chili base, dill-ect-able for those who love dill, and cure for scurvy which is lemon citrus infused.
My first question to Darris is how he started in the hot sauce business. Darris explains that he served on ships during his military duty which gave him time to work on different recipes while at sea. With limited options, his crew mates were often willing to give his creations a try and, often impressed, encouraged him to start a business once he left the military. Darris tells me that the experience has been rewarding, and similar to breweries, there is a lot of positive interaction between the different local hot sauce companies in Nova Scotia (though they do not share their secret recipes).
I mentioned to Darris that I will be attending the Nova Scotia Loyal Saltscapes Expo on the weekend of October 25-27 at the Halifax Exhibition Centre. Darris tells me that Nurple will not only be attending but will be one of the featured vendors this year. If you are not familiar, Saltscapes features hundreds of craft, food, and beverage vendors from across Atlantic Canada. The program this year will put a particular emphasis on Nova Scotia made products. Ticket information can be found at https://tickets.saltscapes. com/
Before parting, I noticed they have a bag from Westside. In true local supporting local fashion, they have stocked up on a selection of Nova Scotia craft beers to enjoy later in the evening.
Photos credit to: https://nurple.ca/
