"Take full account of what excellencies you possess, and in gratitude remember how you would hanker after them, if you had them not." - Marcus Aurelius
Some people don't like (or can't handle) spicy food. Fortunately I'm not one of those people. Don't get me wrong - I'm fine with subtle flavors, but I'm even more fond of hot stuff. I couldn't begin to count how many 4lb jugs of Medium Pace Picante sauce like the one in the photo I've gone through - not to mention hundreds of smaller jars of it. For at least a decade, that was the only sauce I used. I've diversified a bit since discovering how much I enjoy hot sauce.
Below is what's in the refrigerator at the moment.
Of this assortment, I'm especially fond of:
- #1 Marie Sharp's Mild Habanero sauce. I'm not sure that "Mild" and "Habanero" belong on the same label, but that's what they put there.
- #4 Tapatio. This sauce is everywhere - it's a plain-jane hot sauce in terms of flavor, but it's also good. I use it a lot.
- #6 Yucatan Habanero. This one is also a bit plain (tomato sauce and hot), but nice if you want some tomato flavor and heat without other spices coloring your food.
- #7 Bullsnort Cowboy Cayenne. This one has a lot of other flavor in addition to heat. For that reason, you can't use it too often, or you will get tired of it. But it's a nice one to change things up.
- #8 Taco Bell Fire! I kid you not, this is a consistent go-to favorite sauce. It's really sweet and zesty with tomato flavor, yet has a really nice amount of kick. It's awesome and not what you would expect from a corporate-sourced sauce.
- #11 The Pepper Plant Habanero sauce. I've been through maybe 20 bottles of this since first discovering it - it has amazing flavor. There's also a non-habanero version that is pretty tame. Both versions are good on eggs, meatloaf, and blended in with cheap cans of chile, like Stagg, Dennison's or Nalley.
Another sauce I like quite a bit is Secret Aardvark. It's a sweet sauce, with habanero heat. Really good, but like the #7 Cowboy Cayenne, you need to rotate or you will get tired of the strong flavor.
The most recent discovery of the bunch is the #1 Marie Sharp's. It's imported from Belize, and has a really interesting but mild flavor, in part because pureed carrots make up most of the sauce. The carrots don't overwhelm and define the flavor of the sauce - the peppers do - but they make it really interesting and tasty!
I'm open to suggestions for sauces - all ears. I'm not too interested in pure heat - like sauces made with Ghost Peppers or Carolina Reapers. I'm much more interested in decent heat plus good (but not overpowering) flavor.
3 comments:
Well, I'm one of those people who can't eat spicy foods. This is a direct result of having a hiatal hernia. The problem runs in my mother's side of the family. Having experienced stomach fluid coming back up(nearly always during the night), and to the point where it gets into my sinuses, it's an easy decision to simply try and stay away from it. It really sucks getting older. Although, I've had the problem since the mid 80's. There are days where I'll eat mildly spicy foods, and have plenty of Tums around, as I do like certain spices on my food. The hot sauce is something I have to stay away from.
I don't do the hot stuff. I do enjoy mild to medium heat sauces for the added flavor & still being able to taste the food. My current favorite is Cholula Hot Sauce Chile Lime, very little heat But a whole lot of flavor. I really like it on the wife's chicken soup!
Marc, sorry to hear that my friend. For me, hot stuff is one of the more enjoyable things about eating.
Eric, I'm familiar with Cholula, but not that flavor. I'll get some and try it out. Thanks for the recommendation!
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