THE secret to a great chilli condiment? Treating the production like you’re writing a song, of course.

It’s the attention to detail of ex-Tears for Fears drummer Manny Elias and his actress wife Deborah Bouchard that has made Bongo’s Rock’n’Roll Chillis the must-have product on Cheshire’s market scene.

Their base product, ‘Chillimanjaro’ Indian chilli pickle, has been Manny’s homemade specialty for around three decades, with Deborah encouraging him to bring it to market in recent years – with the recipe kept firmly under her distinguishable chilli top-hat.

Now with eight chilli products, ranging from mild to serious heat, Mr and Mrs Bongo have turned the business into a seven-day-a-week venture which keeps the punters coming back for more.

“We would already make 20 or 30 jars and friends would ask for it or we’d take it when we went to see people,” said Deborah.

“Friends and family had been saying for years ‘it’s really good, you should sell it’, and we were always unsure how it would work.

“As soon as we started the company and got all of our qualifications sorted, it went to market and became so popular.

“We have eight different products now, and we still make everything by hand at home in our little kitchen.

“We are really precious about the freshness of it – it’s all extracted from fresh. We come up with an idea and Manny’s process is a bit like writing music, it’s huge attention to detail before we even taste it or make alterations.

“We don’t release a product until we know we would have it ourselves. Everything we do is all inspired by what we like to eat and where we have been in the world.”

As well as unique Indian flavours, inspired by Manny’s upbringing in a Jewish Calcutta family, inspiration has come from places such as Thailand and the Caribbean – the couple’s honeymoon destination.

While the pair have stopped touring in their respective careers these days, Manny still takes orders out to rock’n’roll friends across the world whenever he records a session.

The pair are a familiar site at artisan markets across the north west, and also work closely with small traders such as Cheshire Smokehouse, The Hollies Farm Shop and Grantham’s Fine Foods in Wilmslow.

“We get people that come out specifically just to buy our products from the markets,” Deborah explained.

“That’s the biggest compliment we can get.

“At bigger events we will meet lots of new people, and a lot of them become regular customers at our other events.

“If I walk around the market without the hat on people don’t recognise me. They’ll go up to Manny at the stall and say ‘where is the hat lady?’

“It started as a bit of a joke – the hat was Manny’s from gigging years ago as a bit of a fancy dress thing. My mum chillies on it for Christmas, and while he wore it all day I thought ‘I’m having that’.

“I started wearing it all year round and it’s probably become more famous than either of us!”

But even Mrs Bongo herself wasn’t always so high up the Scoville scale.

“I wouldn’t even look at a chili when I first met Mannie, and when I first tried his recipes I would pick the chillies out, but I enjoyed it and got used to it and now I’m the one who is sampling things.

“I think chili is a type of addiction. As soon as you get a nice one with a good flavour, that’s when you get people coming back and trying the next one up.

“You build up a tolerance, you get used to it and go in search of the next level.”

As for what comes next for the fledgling company, it’s all about meeting the right people.

With the careers the pair have had in the entertainment business, for Deborah it’s always a case of never say never.