SHAKE SHACK fans can now have a taste of its latest collaboration with A Spark of Madness, a Hong Kong-based brand of sauces and condiments. The new products hit the US-based burger restaurants in Manila on Aug. 19.
The collaboration is based on A Spark of Madness’ Crispy Chili Oil, a condiment made by its founder Simran Savlani during the pandemic (more on that later). It will be used on four items: Crispy Chili Chicken (100% all-natural crispy chicken breast glazed in Crispy Chili Oil, then layered with pickled cucumber, shredded lettuce, and a creamy scallion mayo), Crispy Chili Chicken Bites (crispy bite-sized chicken pieces soaked in the oil, served with that same scallion mayo on the side), Crispy Chili Cheese Fries (topped with Shack cheese sauce and A Spark of Madness crispy chili oil), and the Crispy Chili Cheesedog (all-natural beef hotdog drizzled with Shack cheese sauce and Crispy Chili Oil).
BusinessWorld got to try the new offerings during a tasting on Aug. 14 at the Shake Shack branch in Central Square, BGC. The Chicken Sandwich was pleasantly spicy, crispy, and filling; one of the best chicken sandwiches we’ve had in the city, due to the seamless blend between the chicken breast and the chili oil (we just have one complaint: it’s much too messy to eat, but unless you’re wearing all-white, you can be forgiven for scarfing it down). The chicken bites were a lot less forgiving than the chicken sandwich, its heat levels unhampered by the sandwich’s accoutrements. The hotdog, meanwhile, just tasted like a hotdog with spicy toppings. Finally, we judge the chili cheese fries to have the most mainstream appeal, what with the cheese sauce and the chili oil giving each other balance. What’s more, the cheese sauce tempered the spice, so even our heat-averse seatmates at the launch managed to finish this one.
Kate Villasenor, marketing director at Good Eats Specialists, Inc. (the franchiser of Shake Shack in the Philippines; under the SSI Group), said that the collaboration is exclusive to the Philippines, though Shake Shack in the UK has had a similar brush with crispy chili oil (albeit from another brand, and a few years ago).
She also said that they plan to open two more Shake Shacks this year, with the first one already showing a board-up in the Greenhills shopping complex.
A SPARK OF MADNESSMs. Savlani’s sauces can be found in Hong Kong, the Middle East, Singapore, and this month, in Manila (through Joel’s Place, the high-end grocery venture by the same Tantoco family of SSI).
The sauces have four variants: Crack Sauce (a version of Chinese peanut-based Dandan Noodles sauce), the Crispy Chili Oil used by Shake Shack and a hotter version with Black Truffle, and Caramelized Spring Onion.
Ms. Savlani named the business after something the late actor Robin Williams said during a standup comedy set: “You’re only given a little spark of madness, and you mustn’t lose it.”
“I grew up watching Robin Williams. I loved him,” she told BusinessWorld. As a child, she had longed to open a restaurant but was directed towards getting a business degree by her family. She worked in media and lifestyle for a few years, then decided to move to Paris to study at the Cordon Bleu: not to be a chef, as she had hoped, but to learn how to build restaurants. She went into this career, traveling all corners of the globe to do just that.
Like many of us, she took a pause because of the COVID-19 pandemic — Hong Kong was under restrictive quarantines and lockdowns. In her home, she decided to write a cookbook (named A Spark of Madness). The sauces were initially meant to be giveaways during her book events, but they took a life of their own. “With the sauces, people kept coming back,” she said.
“I’ve always wanted to feed people. With a restaurant, I would be able to feed people only in one neighborhood,” she said. “With the sauces… someone in Dubai is sitting and having the sauces.”
While they’re Asian in inspiration, Ms. Savlani’s tweaks to her vegetarian, preservative-free, handmade sauces make them suitable to use in any cuisine. “There’s no limit to what you can do.” It’s reflective of the multiculturalism of Hong Kong: “We’re a small city, where people bring flavors in.”
It’s also a reflection of her own: of Indian descent, residing in Hong Kong, born in Taiwan, and with periods spent in Bombay and Paris. Asked what that lifestyle did to her palate, she said, “Curiosity. When you’re pushed to be in a place that’s not home, you’re curious.”
While staying in Manila, she had gone to several different markets, ranging from middle-range to high-end. She does this in every city she visits. “It’s just exciting to know how a country consumes food,” she said. “I soak in a city by seeing its food.”
The collaboration between A Spark of Madness and Shake Shack will be available from Aug. 19 until Oct. 18 at all Shake Shack locations nationwide.
Meanwhile, Shake Shack will be offering free form pottery classes in partnership with local ceramic studio Bumi and Ashe. Happening on Sept. 6 and 7 at Shake Shack Alabang Town Center, guests can create a ceramic piece to take home, while also enjoying a free Crispy Chili meal set plus swag from Bumi and Ashe. Visit bumiandashe.com to reserve a slot or check @bumi.and.ashe on Instagram. — Joseph L. Garcia
