I’ve been getting more and more annoyed by those Frank’s Red Hot Sauce ads – the ones that often feature an older lady claiming she ‘puts that **** on everything’. Nobody in their right mind would do that! And if they did, they wouldn’t admit it…
Chili Ice Cream: Not something I’d order, even at the trendiest of restos. But it’s evidently
a ‘thing’. When I Googled it, hundreds of references came back. But I would try
dosing Hershey’s famous Chocolate Sauce with a shot or two of Frank’s
to create a nice Mole drizzle for classic Vanilla ice cream…
I’ll admit that the Hot Sauce fad-turned-craze has become a bona fide trend. Gazillions of folks seem to actually love hot sauce on just about everything. From a handful of options just a decade ago, the hot sauce market has exploded into a whole ‘store’ of its own…
You wouldn’t believe…
Well… Maybe you would. I looked it up:
- Hot sauces come in ‘strengths’ from very mild (like ‘mild’ salsa) to ultra-hot.
- The hottest peppers grown aren’t even meant for human consumption; they are mainly used for self-defence pepper sprays.
- There are hundreds of brands of hot sauce available in North America
- There are thousands of variations on those brands (ie.- flavours and heat levels).
- Artisan hot sauces are the fastest-growing condiment category
Hotsauce.com may offer the single most complete range of such products. They list 120 brands as ‘core’ sellers. But their full catalogue contains more than 1,500 individual products, in 50+ categories, from ‘All-Natural’ to ‘Valentine’s Heat’. You can even get non-GMO, gluten-free, Kosher, and – of course – organic hot sauces.
I was frankly (pun intended) shocked to discover that there are actually ‘pure’ hot pepper extracts available. They are, in fact, pure heat. Billed as ‘flavourless sauces’, they’re easily the hottest prepar-ations on the ‘hot sauce’ market. Their heat levels run up over 1,000,000 Scoville Units. And they come in small glass bottles with eye-dropper caps. Like powerful medicines. Or nitroglycerine….
On the other hand…
There are definite drawbacks to putting that **** on everything.
First – and foremost – there’s the obvious self-defeating situation that, whatever you bless with hot sauce will, thereafter, taste primarily or exclusively like hot sauce. What’s the point in putting chili peppers on any food if its flavour is just going to be overwhelmed by the chili?
Second, some hot sauces are so hot that certain folks can suffer chemical burns to their mouth and throat from them. Sensitivity to hot peppers varies widely, ranging from individuals who experience pain from mild peppers to those who can consume, and even enjoy, extremely hot, super-hot chilis.
My take
I subscribe to the theory that going to extremes is always unadvisable. And flavouring is a prime example – hot sauces being the crowning demonstration. You’re either disappointed because you didn’t get enough, or flabbergasted because you got too much.
I love chili peppers – in the right foods at the right ‘temperature’. I draw the line at the point where I can no longer enjoy, or even taste the food due to the intensity of heat!
For first-hand reactions from folks tasting hot sauce on really odd foods… Look in on the crazy guys at GoodMythicalMore on YouTube, as they try to determine ‘The Weirdest Food To Put Hot Sauce on…’
~ Maggie J.