Hot sauce
Hot sauce is a type of
History
Humans have used chili peppers and other hot spices for thousands of years. Inhabitants of Mexico, Central America and South America had chili peppers more than 6,000 years ago. Within decades of contact with
Ingredients
Many recipes for hot sauces exist, but the only common ingredient is some variety of
Styles
This section needs additional citations for verification. (October 2019) |
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.[7][8]
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.[citation needed]
Trinidad
Barbados
Bajan pepper sauce, a mustard and Scotch bonnet pepper based hot sauce.
Haiti
Sauce Ti-malice, typically made with habanero, shallots, lime juice, garlic and sometimes tomatoes[9]
Puerto Rico
Sofritosmall piquins ("bird peppers") with —annatto seeds, coriander leaves, onions, garlic, and tomatoes. Pique (/ˈpiːk/) 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 (Spanish pronunciation: [uˈtwaðo]) a municipality of Puerto Rico located in the central mountainous region of the island known as La Cordillera Central.
Jamaica
Chile
The most popular sauce is the Diaguitas brand, made of pure red (very hot) or yellow (hot) 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" (like ají crema), 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.
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
Panama
Traditional Panamanian hot sauce is usually made with "Aji Chombo", Scotch Bonnet peppers. Picante Chombo D'Elidas is a popular brand in Panama, with three major sauces. The yellow sauce, made with habanero and mustard, is the most distinctive. They also produce red and green varieties which are heavier on vinegar content and without mustard. Although the majority of Panamanian cuisine lacks in spice, D'Elidas is seen as an authentic Panamanian hot sauce usually serviced with Rice with Chicken or soups.
United States
In the United States, commercially produced chili sauces are assigned various grades per their quality.[10] These grades include U.S. Grade A (also known as U.S. Fancy), U.S. Grade C (also known as U.S. Standard) and Substandard.[10] Criteria in food grading for chili sauces in the U.S. includes coloration, consistency, character, absence of defects and flavor.[10]
The varieties of peppers that are used often are
A type of sriracha sauce manufactured in California by Huy Fong Foods has become increasingly popular in the United States in contemporary times.[12]
Louisiana-style
Louisiana-style hot sauce contains red chili peppers (tabasco and/or cayenne are the most popular), vinegar and salt. Occasionally xanthan gum or other thickeners are used.
- Louisiana Hot Sauce (450 Scoville Heat Units (SHU)[13] Introduced in 1928, A cayenne pepper based hot sauce produced by Southeastern Mills, Inc., in New Iberia, Louisiana
- Crystal Hot Sauce (4,000 SHU)[14] is a brand of Louisiana-style hot sauce produced by family-owned Baumer Foods since 1923.
- Tabasco sauce (2,500 SHU)[15] The earliest recognizable brand in the hot sauce industry, first appearing in 1868.
- Frank's Red Hot (450 SHU)[16] Claims to be the primary ingredient in the first Buffalo wingsauce.
- Texas Pete (750 SHU)[17] 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.[18]
New Mexico
New Mexico chile sauces differ from others in that they contain no vinegar. Almost every traditional New Mexican dish is served with red or green chile sauce, the towns of Hatch, Chimayo, the Albuquerque area, and others in New Mexico are well known for their peppers. The sauce is often added to meats, eggs, vegetables, breads, and some dishes are, in fact, mostly chile sauce with a modest addition of pork, beef, or beans.
- 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
Australia
The availability of a wide variety of hot sauces is a relatively recent event in most of Australia. Pre 2000, there was little more choice than the flagship brand of Tabasco Cayenne sauce predominantly used in restaurants and sold in supermarkets. Other options included the more specialised thick, medium to hot Asian sauces, [citation needed]. Although today, two of the most popular picks are the Buffalo and Sriracha hot sauces. There's also very faithful, locally produced versions of Habanero and Trinidad Scorpion ranges available.
United Kingdom
Two of the hottest chilies in the world, the
Heat
The heat, or burning sensation, experienced when consuming hot sauce is caused by
Foods containing capsaicin, like hot sauces, can have different effects on each individual. Those with stomach issues can experience worse symptoms than just the “burning” sensation. People with Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) can have gas, diarrhea, or stomach pains after ingesting hot sauces.[21]
The seemingly subjective perceived heat of hot sauces can be measured by the
Rating
A general way to estimate the heat of a sauce is to look at the ingredients list. Sauces tend to vary in heat based on the kind of peppers used, and the further down the list, the less the amount of pepper.
- Cayenne - Sauces made with cayenne, including most of the Louisiana-style sauces, are usually hotter than jalapeño, but milder than other sauces.
- Scoville units, but it can now reach over 100,000 units. In cooking substitutions, the Chile de árbol pepper can be traded with Cayenne pepper.
- Trinidad Scorpion Morugaare even five or ten-fold hotter.
- Jalapeño - These sauces include green and red jalapeño chilis, and chipotle (ripened and smoked). Green jalapeño and chipotle are usually the mildest sauces available. Red jalapeño sauce is generally hotter.
- Naga Bhut Jolokia - The pepper is also known as Bhut Jolokia, ghost pepper, ghost chili pepper, red naga chilli, and ghost chilli.[22] In 2007, Guinness World Recordscertified that the Ghost Pepper (Bhut Jolokia) was the world's hottest chili pepper, 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce; however, in 2011 it has since been superseded by the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion.
- Piri piri - The Peri Peri pepper has been naturalized into South Africa and is also known as the African Bird's Eye pepper, Piri-Piri pepper or Pili-Pili pepper, depending on what area of the country you're in. The pepper ranges from one half to one inch in length and tapers at a blunt point. The small package packs a mighty punch with a 175,000 rating on the Scoville scale, near the Habanero, but the Peri Peri is smaller and has a much different flavor. It is most commonly used in a hot sauce, combined with other spices and seasonings because it has a very light, fresh citrus-herbal flavor that blends well with the flavors of most other ingredients.[23]
- Scotch Bonnet- Similar in heat to the Habanero are these peppers popular in the Caribbean. Often found in Jamaican hot sauces.
- Tabasco peppers - Sauces made with tabasco peppers are generally hotter than cayenne pepper sauces. Along with Tabasco, a number of sauces are made using tabasco peppers.
- Trinidad Moruga Scorpion The golf ball-sized chili pepper has a tender fruit-like flavor. According to the New Mexico State University Chile Institute, the Trinidad Scorpion Moruga Blend ranks as high as 2,009,231 SHU on the Scoville scale.
- Carolina Reaper - The Carolina Reaper is a super hot pepper which has been described as a roasted sweetness delivering an instant level of heat. Developed by Puckerbutt Founder Ed Currie in Rock Hill, South Carolina, the Carolina Reaper averages over 1.6 million SHU and was awarded the Guinness World Record in August 2017.[24]
- Capsaicin extract - The hottest sauces are made from capsaicin extract. These range from extremely hot pepper sauce blends to pure capsaicin extracts. These sauces are extremely hot and should be considered with caution by those not used to fiery foods. Many are too hot to consume more than a drop or two in a pot of food. These novelty sauces are typically only sold by specialty retailers and are usually more expensive.
- Other ingredients - heat is also affected by other ingredients. Mustard oil and wasabi can be added to increase the sensation of heat but generally, more ingredients in a sauce dilute the effect of the chilis, resulting in a milder flavor. Many sauces contain tomatoes, carrots, onions, garlic or other vegetables and seasonings. Vinegar or lemon juice[25] are also common ingredients in many hot sauces because their acidity will help keep the sauce from oxidizing, thus acting as a preservative.
Remedies
Capsaicinoids are the chemicals responsible for the "hot" taste of chili peppers. They are fat soluble and therefore water will be of no assistance when countering the burn. The most effective way to relieve the burning sensation is with dairy products, such as milk and yogurt. A protein called casein occurs in dairy products which binds to the capsaicin, effectively making it less available to "burn" the mouth, and the milk fat helps keep it in suspension. Rice is also useful for mitigating the impact, especially when it is included with a mouthful of the hot food. These foods are typically included in the cuisine of cultures that specialise in the use of chilis. Mechanical stimulation of the mouth by chewing food will also partially mask the pain sensation.[26]
See also
- Chili pepper water
- Jerk spice, a marinade of spices and hot peppers commonly used in Jamaican cuisine.
- List of hot sauces
- Pepper jelly
- Hottest chili pepper
- Sambal, sauce typically made from a variety of chili peppers.
- Scoville scale
References
- ^ Brown, David (February 16, 2007). "One Hot Archaeological Find". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 16, 2017.
- ISBN 978-1-60342-813-2.
- ^ "The Best-Selling Condiments in the U.S.: No. 13 Best-Selling Condiment: McIllhenny Tabasco Sauce". BusinessWeek. Archived from the original on 2013-04-28. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
- ^ "The Best-Selling Condiments in the U.S.: No. 12 Best-Selling Condiment: Frank's RedHot Sauce". BusinessWeek. Archived from the original on 2013-04-07. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
- ^ Chili History and Hot Sauce. Archived from the original on 2016-10-12.
- ISBN 9781449408480.
- ISBN 9781948749343.
- Australian Consolidated Press. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
- ^ "Whats 4 Eats recipe for Sos Ti-Malice". 30 March 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-12-01.
- ^ a b c Tomato Production, Processing and Technology, WA Gould. pp. 460–462.
- Rombauer, I: Joy of Cooking, p. 847. Bobbs-Merrill, 1975.
- ^ Edge, John T. (May 19, 2009). "A Chili Sauce to Crow About". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
- ^ "Hot Sauce Scoville Scale | scovillescale.org". Scoville Scale. Retrieved 2022-12-01.
- ^ "Hot Sauce Scoville Scale | scovillescale.org". Scoville Scale. Retrieved 2022-12-01.
- ^ "Hot Sauce Scoville Scale | scovillescale.org". Scoville Scale. Retrieved 2022-12-01.
- ^ "Hot Sauce Scoville Scale | scovillescale.org". Scoville Scale. Retrieved 2022-12-01.
- ^ "Hot Sauce Scoville Scale | scovillescale.org". Scoville Scale. Retrieved 2022-12-01.
- ^ "Slash Food Article on Chili Pepper Water". Archived from the original on March 4, 2013.
- ^ "Chilli Sauce Online". Fire Foods. Archived from the original on 2013-01-29. Retrieved 2013-03-02.
- PMID 28044278.
- ^ "A hot topic: Are spicy foods healthy or dangerous?". www.uchicagomedicine.org. Retrieved 2022-12-01.
- ^ "Ghost Chili Scares Off Elephants". News.nationalgeographic.com. Archived from the original on 2010-03-29. Retrieved 2010-04-11.
- ^ "Peri-Peri Peppers". Archived from the original on 2014-02-03.
- ^ "Hottest chilli pepper". Guinness World Records Limited. 11 August 2017. Archived from the original on 2019-12-16. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
- ^ "Does Hot Sauce Go Bad?". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
- S2CID 40829476.
External links
- Media related to Hot sauce at Wikimedia Commons