First loves create powerful memories.
I remember the day that I fell in love with the grand-daddy of all hot sauces, the veritable, white-oak-barrel-aged Tabasco; I must have been all of 7 or 8 that day.
My little brother and I were ensconced at our grandfather’s beach cabin on the Gulf of Mexico in South Texas; we had just sat down to a hot lunch at the red-checkered table-clothed picnic table on the screen porch. Parents were off galavanting in Houston so we had the run of the place (at least in our minds).
Ma-Ma (maw-maw) had been slaving away for an hour over the old gas stove, frying up round steak coated in freshly crushed cracker crumbs (after a flour and egg wash of course) to a crispy golden brown just like you’re salivating over right now.
Being good children of the South back in the day, we waited until the adults were served and then were allotted our share of that day’s treasure, which included creamy mashed potatoes and garden beans.
I watched in awe as Pa-Pa slathered his steak in Tabasco; wordlessly he reached over and set the bottle down right in front of my plate.
My duty was clear.
I mimicked his hot sauce application the best I could, whacked off a mouthful of the ambrosial steak and went on to experience that first eye-popping, tongue searing burn of the hot sauce world. Surely beads of sweat broke out on my preadolescent forehead; I coughed and sputtered, my nose ran and my eyes watered.
But my fate was sealed, I was forever thereafter a lover of the Other Red Gold.
Jake and I went so far as to start collecting hot sauces years ago (he has in the neighborhood of 200), though for daily use it’s been classic Tabasco (there are seven flavors now) and Crystal.
Just bottled Fresno Red and new Jalapeno mash
This fall, however, we’ve stumbled across a new treasure – fresh, floral home grown hot sauce made from peppers right off the plant.
We been experimenting a bit, and while this is not a classic, full-bodied, fermented hot sauce, we’ve found that by experimenting with different combinations of peppers a mind-blowing array of flavors (and heat) is possible.
For daily use (and around here that’s basically every meal, even She Who Must Be Obeyed) we tend to favor a simple sauce made using red fresno chiles with a habanero or two (membranes and seeds scraped for the timid) to add that tropical fruity flavor.
Or try a simple green sauce with jalapenos alone (try adding a poblano to deepen the flavor) or
one more piquant from serranos.
We’ll not be buying bottled ‘every day hot sauce’ again – this is just too good and too easy.
(I’m experimenting with some more complex fermented sauce batches and will report in a couple of months…).
1 and 1/4 pound stemmed fresh chiles (see above)
2 heaping tbsp. pickling salt (or kosher salt without anti-caking agents)
1 and 1/2 cups good quality distilled white vinegar (maybe just a wee bit more)
Make a pepper mash. Stem the chiles then combine in a food processor bowl with the salt. Pulse until a coarse puree forms; scrape the sides at least once.
Watch and wait. Pour the pepper mash into a one quart lidded jar (your run of the mill caning jar is perfect here) and let the mash ferment at a cool room temperature for up to 36 hours. We’re really not fermenting the mash here, just aging it a bit and giving the salt time to start extracting the flavors from the chile puree.
Pour in the vinegar, stir or shake to combine well, loosen the lid and set it back on the counter at a cool room temperature for 7-10 days. Some folks like to taste it every other day or even every day, you’ll notice the flavor deepening after 3 or 4 days.
Finish it up. Pour the vinegar mash into your blender or back into the food processor and puree until very smooth (at least for a minute). Strain through a fine mesh sieve; you’ll be surprised how long it takes to fully drain. We always end up fiddling with the mash in the sieve, scraping it, squishing it and wiggling it until every possible drop of goodness has dripped through.
Pour into a bottle or two, cap it and put it in the fridge. The guy who taught me says its good for four months though it never lasts that long.
Enjoy.
