Hot Sauces.
I went to a food show in San Francisco where all manner of products are displayed and sampled by potential retail buyers from across the land. It's like the car show or boat show for foodies.
After having been there and seen it for myself I can state with absolute authority that they are now way too many hot sauces available in America today. I could envision households across the land facing a tough question. "Can we afford another refrigerator just to hold our hot sauces!?"
Let's get real. How widely could they vary? Well, they fall into types and the best advice I can give you is to try to sample as many hot sauces as you can and only buy the ones you are absolutely in love with or you won't have room for anything else important on your skinny little refrigerator shelves.
Where would you put the different types of olives, the mustards, ketchups, salsas, mayos, pickles, the condiment sauces, those cute little cocktail onions (that often taste very bad) for those occasional martinis...OH! The jellies, jams, chutneys and marmalades would be pinched too! So...you've got to get choosy. (I generally hate that…)
So here’e three basic types:
1. Louisiana (like Tobasco or Crystal). Thin, vinegary and potent. Measure these out in shakes.
2. Caribbean (like Matouk's). The one Habanero and Scotch Bonnet Chile drives the missiles in these. Measure these out in eye droplet portions until you know and welcome the pain threshold of your desire.
3. Mexican: They vary widely due to the broad enjoyment and understanding of chilies in general. Move from chile to chile as you seek to learn that torrid talisman.
My advice? Pick one of each type and when you run out of one of the types then, (AND ONLY THEN!), try a new type. Other wise you may end up like me. With two refrigerators.
