Hot-n-Saucy

The hot sauce selection at A Southern Season in Chapel Hill, NC.

 
Hot Sauce has been around for a long time, though these days, there seems to be a veritable plethora of sauces on the grocery shelves to choose from. Our favorite thing about hot sauces? The packaging! Don’t know how it tastes, but a clever bottle label will catch your eye every time.
 

Who says there's no truth in adverstising?
At least you can't say you weren't warned.

800,000 Scoville Units?!? Let’s put this in perspective for you – Satan’s Blood (which actually is a ghastly blood red in color) falls somewhere between a Red Savina Haberno Chile (350,000-580,000 s.u.) and common pepper spray (2,000,000 s.u.). Can you say burning ring of fire?

 

I’m not sure if the point here is to tempt you or scare you away. If you can’t read see them clearly, the bottle labels on the left read Sphinster Shrinker and Colon Cleanser…ummm….

 

Thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the more popular brands and provide you with some did-ya-knows.

 

TABASCO SAUCE – the sauce is made from the Tabasco chile which is where it gets its name (did not know that). In 1868, Edmund McIlhenney manufactured the first domestic hot sauce in the U.S. The recipe was patented in 1870 and then name trademarked in 1906. Tabasco became a household staple. Interesting thing, the label hasn’t changed much from when it was first bottled. http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Tabasco.htm

 

FRANK’S RED HOT SAUCE – the sauce is made from Cayenne peppers (learning new stuff all the time). It first came into being in 1920 after pepper farmer Adam Estilette partnered with Jacob Frank in New Iberia, Louisiana, to create a sauce spiced with the flavor-filled richness of cayenne pepper. In 1964, this spicy creation was used as the secret ingredient in the first ever Buffalo Wings in NY. Thanks Frank’s! http://www.franksredhot.com/wings/heritage/

 

TEXAS PETE – or as we referred to it in culinary at ACC, the underpants of any good recipe! It’s a blend of three peppers, with some definite Cayenne overtones, that provides whatever you make with a nice stable flavor base. Despite its name, Texas Pete is from North Carolina. The sauce was developed by the Garner family in the 1930s and owes part of its name to the popularity of movie cowboys during that period. http://www.texaspete.com/legend/index.html

 

ROOSTER SAUCE – this Thai sauce is made from sun-ripened chiles and is used as both a condiment and an ingredient in any number of dishes. Tuong Ot Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce is the most popularly used hot sauce by Asian food aficionados in the U.S. It gets its nickname because of the recognizable white rooster on the bottle label. http://www.gourmet.com/food/2008/02/sriracha

Feeling in the hot sauce know yet?  We are.