By Mike Thayer
Recently a promotional deal at Sam's Club, 15 hot sauces for around $9
I've always got a bottle of some kind of hot sauce on hand, my typical go-to is Louisiana Hot Sauce, sometimes it's Frank's Red Hot, or it might be Texas Pete. For a change of pace I'll go with Tabasco or some Tapatio Salsa Picante Hot Sauce, oh, and for some oriental flare there's Sriracha and I usually have a bottle of chili oil on hand as well.
I wasn't always a fan hot sauces, let alone spices or oils putting some heat in/on my food. In my younger days I wouldn't bother with hot sauces, didn't shake red chili flake on my pizza and if I ordered nachos at a sporting event it was without the jalapeno slices. When it came to food, it was pretty much meat and potatoes, nothing elaborate, nothing too adventurous, certainly nothing to make for a sweaty forehead at the dinner table!
Back in my early military days, I had a civilian friend who couldn't eat anything without liberally applying a lot of hot sauce to whatever it was on his plate.
"I've eaten so much hot sauce, I've burned out my taste buds, I can't really taste food now unless I put hot sauce on hit," He claimed.
Thanks to my military travels and a growing passion for a variety of foods, I have since come to appreciate some heat on good eats, probably more than the average Joe, but I haven't gotten to the point of burning out my taste buds... Bring on the heat!
I was recently gifted a package of hot sauces (shout out to Cindy C.), a promotional deal that went on for a limited time at Sam's Club, 15 sauces for around $9 called 'World Traveler Sauce', distributed by Modern Gourmet Foods out of Irvine, CA.
What I selected first to try
Here's what you get in a package of World Traveler Hot Sauce:
Reds
Australia Sydney Screamin' Chili Sauce
Kickin' Kenyan Fire Sauce
Hawaiian Lava Flow Hot Sauce (Mango Habanero)
Death Valley Ghost Pepper Sauce
Italian Garlic Hot Sauce
Japanese Dragon Breath Hot Sauce
Argentinian Cowboy Gaucho Bacon Hot Sauce
Mount Fiji Magma Hot Sauce
Havana Habanero Whiskey Habanero Hot Sauce
Exotic New Delhi Cayenne Pepper Hot Sauce
Oaxaca Tequila Lime Hot Sauce
Greens
New Orleans Louisiana Bourbon Street Pepper Sauce
Tahitian Sweet Jalapeno Hot Sauce
Brazil Samba Sauce Jalapeno Pepper Hot Sauce
Dead or Alive South Texas Lime Jalapeno
Tequila & Lime? What's not to like?
On a visual note, you can see all the color variations, pale reds, deep reds, light and darker greens. And the heat variations will be quite noticeable too. While not all bottles indicate what type of pepper is featured as the main ingredient, there are labels touting Habanero and Ghost peppers. The green sauces, all Jalapeno based, intrigue me the most. I have to admit to have never trying a Jalapeno Hot Sauce before, I've always gone with reds. I've had both red and green sauces on enchiladas, but that would be an apples/oranges comparison kind of thing. Enchilada sauces served in a typical Americanized Mexican establishment won't typically be hot, like a bottled hot sauce can be.
So out of all these choices, I went with the Dead or Alive South Texas Lime Jalapeno hot sauce. I can't go wrong with something labeled 'Dead or Alive' right? In addition to trying a jalapeno based hot sauce for the first time, I love the flavor of lime, it's my favorite citrus and goes so well with so many foods, Mexican, Asian, grilled and more!
I love the Dead or Alive stuff! I've had it on scrambled eggs, pork fried rice, with Ramen, on potatoes. This is GOOD stuff! And it's got a very subtle kick, it's not overpowering like the name 'Dead or Alive' might imply. Going in for that first sample I flat out didn't know what I would be getting, as jalapenos can be a bit unpredictable. Lower on the Scoville heat scale the jalapeno is considered a mild pepper, but if growing conditions are stressed, the result can be a jalapeno with more of a kick than normal. This is a very smooth hot sauce that doesn't take over the flavor of your food, it compliments it, nicely delivering jalapeno and lime notes.
The second sauce I sampled was the Oaxaca Tequila Lime Hot Sauce. Again, the flavor of lime influenced my selection. Oaxaca is a Major city in Mexico, south of Mexico City. The area is known for Mezcal, the predecessor to Tequila. Made from the Agave plant (There are 30 Agave variations, but Tequila is exclusive to Blue Agave), Mezcal is known for its smoky flavor. I got smoky flavor in sampling this sauce and while I didn't get any Tequila flavor in the tasting, I'm thinking the bottlers put Tequila on the label because pretty much anybody who drinks knows what Tequila is, Mezcal, not so much... Back to the sauce, two-for-two on goodness! Another nice sauce, this one has more kick, not sure what kind of pepper serves as the base, but it does let you know it's there, kind of a kick with a little smoke element if you will. I tried it on eggs over easy and a sausage patty.
This package is a great sampler opportunity, because it has already expanded my appreciation for hot sauces. Sure, I'll still grab the bottle of Louisiana Hot Sauce off the grocery store shelf, but now I'll be taking my time, checking out the variety of flavors available. Red sauces, green sauces, the varying levels of heat through the different pepper bases. I'm looking forward to trying the remaining 13 hot sauces in this World Traveler set and doing a follow-up review! The next time you're in that grocery store aisle with the hot sauces in it, don't just zero in on the Frank's Red Hot, browse a little...
$pend Wisely My Friends...