Hot sauce
Hot sauce is a type of condiment, seasoning, or salsa made from chili peppers and other ingredients. Many commercial varieties of mass-produced hot sauce exist.
History
Humans have used chili peppers and other hot spices for thousands of years. One of the first commercially available bottled hot sauces in the United States appeared in 1807 in Massachusetts. However, few of the early brands from the 1800s survived to this day. Tabasco sauce, produced by the McIlhenny Company, is the earliest recognizable brand in the United States hot sauce industry, appearing in 1868. As of 2010, it was the 13th best-selling condiment in the United States preceded by Frank's RedHot Sauce in 12th place.Ingredients
Many recipes for hot sauces exist, but the only common ingredient is some variety of chili pepper. Many hot sauces are made by using chili peppers as the base and can be as simple as adding salt and vinegar. Other sauces use some type of fruits or vegetables as the base and add the chili peppers to make them hot. Manufacturers use many different processes from fermentation, aging in containers, and pureeing and cooking the ingredients to achieve a desired flavor. Because of their ratings on the Scoville scale, spicier peppers such as the ghost pepper, Scotch bonnet or habanero pepper are sometimes used to make hotter sauces. Alternatively, other ingredients can be used to add extra heat, such as pure capsaicin extract or mustard oil. Other common sauce ingredients include vinegar and spices. Vinegar is used primarily as a natural preservative, but flavored vinegars can be used to alter the flavour.Styles
Americas
Belize
Belizean hot sauces are usually extremely hot and use habaneros, carrots, and onions as primary ingredients. Marie Sharp's is a popular brand of hot sauce produced in the Stann Creek Valley.Bermuda
Bermudian sherry peppers sauce is made from a base of Spanish sherry wine and hot peppers. The major producer on the island is Outerbridge Peppers.Caribbean
Hot pepper sauces, as they are most commonly known there, feature heavily in Caribbean cuisine. They are prepared from chilli peppers and vinegar, with fruits and vegetables added for extra flavor. The most common peppers used are habanero and Scotch bonnet, the latter being the most common in Jamaica. Both are very hot peppers, making for strong sauces. Over the years, each island developed its own distinctive recipes, and home-made sauces are still common.Trinidad
is considered one of the hottest and most frutal families of strains, and is primarily cultivated and hybridized in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia.Barbados
, a mustard and Scotch bonnet pepper based hot sauce.Haiti
Sauce Ti-malice, typically made with habanero, shallots, lime juice, garlic and sometimes tomatoesPuerto Rico
small piquins with annatto seeds, coriander leaves, onions, garlic, and tomatoes. Pique sauce is a Puerto Rican hot sauce made by steeping hot peppers in vinegar. Don Ricardo Original Pique Sauce, which is made with pineapple, is a Puerto Rican staple. Don Ricardo originated in Utuado a municipality of Puerto Rico located in the central mountainous region of the island known as La Cordillera Central.Jamaica
s are the most popular peppers used in Jamaica. Pickapeppa sauce is a Jamaican sauce.Chile
The most popular sauce is the Diaguitas brand, made of pure red or yellow Chilean peppers mixed only with water and salt. Other hot sauces are made from puta madre, cacho de cabra, rocoto, oro and cristal peppers, mixed with various ingredients. Mild hot sauces include some "creamy style", or a pebre-style sauce, from many local producers, varying in hotness and quality.Mexico
Mexican cuisine more often includes chopped chili peppers, but when hot sauces are used, they are typically focused more on flavor than on intense heat. Chipotle peppers are a very popular ingredient of Mexican hot sauce. Vinegar is used sparingly or not at all in Mexican sauces, but some particular styles are high in vinegar content similar to the American Louisiana-style sauces. Some hot sauces may include using the seeds from the popular achiote plant for coloring or a slight flavor additive. The process of adobos has been used in the past as a preservative but now it is mainly used to enhance the flavor of the peppers and they rely more on the use of vinegar. Mexican-style sauces are primarily produced in Mexico but they are also produced internationally. The Spanish term for sauce is salsa, and in English-speaking countries usually refers to the often tomato-based, hot sauces typical of Mexican cuisine, particularly those used as dips. There are many types of salsa which usually vary throughout Latin America.These are some of the notable companies producing Mexican style hot sauce.
- Búfalo: A popular Mexican sauce
- Cholula Hot Sauce: Known for its iconic round wooden cap
- Valentina: A traditional Mexican sauce
- El Yucateco: A popular Mexican sauce
Panama
United States
In the United States, commercially produced chili sauces are assigned various grades per their quality. These grades include U.S. Grade A, U.S. Grade C and Substandard. Criteria in food grading for chili sauces in the U.S. includes coloration, consistency, character, absence of defects and flavor.The varieties of peppers that are used often are cayenne, chipotle, habanero and jalapeño. Some hot sauces, notably Tabasco sauce, are aged in wooden casks similar to the preparation of wine and fermented vinegar. Other ingredients, including fruits and vegetables such as raspberries, mangoes, carrots, and chayote squash are sometimes used to add flavor, mellow the heat of the chilis, and thicken the sauce's consistency. Artisan hot sauces are manufactured by smaller producers and private labels in the United States. Their products are produced in smaller quantities in a variety of flavors. Many sauces have a theme to catch consumers attention. A very mild chili sauce is produced by Heinz and other manufacturers, and is frequently found in cookbooks in the U.S. This style chili sauce is based on tomatoes, green and/or red bell peppers, and spices; and contains little chili pepper. This sauce is more akin to tomato ketchup and cocktail sauce than predominantly chili pepper-based sauces.
A type of sriracha sauce manufactured in California by Huy Fong Foods has become increasingly popular in the United States in contemporary times.
Tapatío hot sauce is popular among Mexican-American communities and the broader US population. It is based on a style of sauce found in Jalisco.
Louisiana-style
Louisiana-style hot sauce contains red chili peppers, vinegar and salt. Occasionally xanthan gum or other thickeners are used.- Louisiana Hot Sauce Introduced in 1928, A cayenne pepper based hot sauce produced by Southeastern Mills, Inc., in New Iberia, Louisiana.
- Crystal Hot Sauce is a brand of Louisiana-style hot sauce produced by family-owned Baumer Foods since 1923.
- Tabasco sauce The earliest recognizable brand in the hot sauce industry, first appearing in 1868.
- Frank's Red Hot Claims to be the primary ingredient in the first Buffalo wing sauce.
- Texas Pete Introduced in 1929, developed and manufactured by the TW Garner Food Company in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
- Trappey's Hot Sauce Company was founded in 1898.
- Chili pepper water, used primarily in Hawaii, is ideal for cooking. It is made from whole chilies, garlic, salt, and water. Often homemade, the pungent end product must be sealed carefully to prevent leakage.
New Mexico
- Green chile: This sauce is prepared from any fire roasted green chile peppers are common varieties. The skins are removed and peppers diced. Onions are fried in lard or butter, and a roux is prepared. Broth and chile peppers are added to the roux and thickened. Its consistency is similar to gravy, and it is used as such. It also is used as a salsa.
- Red chile: A roux is made from lard and flour. The dried ground pods of native red chiles are added. Water is added and the sauce is thickened.
Others