Rob's Hot Foods Page
First of all, if you don't know it already, the habanero pepper is generally known as being the hottest variety, at least 30 times hotter than a jalapeno. Using HPLC (chromatography) the Scoville Unit may be used to rate hotness quantitatively, typical commercial jalapenos rating about 3000 SU, and habaneros at 100,000 SU.
The SECOND THING you should know, is that there are new varieties of hot sauce that have capsaicin, the hot-chemical, added-- this is the same chemical extracted in a very pure form for use in self-defense pepper sprays, using typical hexane-extraction... Dave's Insanity Hot Sauce was the first to add this extract to hot sauce... I think we're talking 300,000 Scoville Units here for his limited reserve ($25) bottle. His regular is nearly as hot, and only about $6. There are about five or six brands out now. This is hotter than straight habaneros! OK, I've tried Dave's Insanity, Endorphin Rush, Blair's After Death, and a few others-- they're ******very****** very hot. To give perspective, I can swish around a whole mouthful of Tabasco without even trying, and easily do the same with a very hot (not-carrot-neutralized) habanero sauce like the Coyote Cocina or Melinda's XXX or XXXX habanero sauces. I just tried this swishing with Dave's after building up to it for a week. My mouth was fine, although my lips and the back of my throat were burnt. I swished it thoroughly. I was perfectly fine, although five minutes later my tongue actually felt some real "I wish I hadn't done that" pain, something which hot foods haven't done to me since I was a child with sensitive taste buds. Five minutes after that, my stomach staged a revolution in protest... (no details)... maybe I should have had a big dinner and carrots and potatoes waiting in my stomach instead of shocking it empty. If you try this without building up to it by burning off your taste buds for a week, your reaction may be pain stronger than anything in recent memory... Oh well, it does have a harsh taste, however I add a bit to my favorite hot foods, and it intensifies the entire taste... Tacos, Bi Bim Kook Soo, Salsa, whatever... The Endorphin Rush is molasses-based and is not quite as harsh. The Blair's has the typical red-habanero's tomato-ey taste. For a capsaicin-added sauce with less of a chemical taste, try the Armageddon Sauce (from Red Dog Tavern in the Adirondacks), or the less hot Robert Rothchild Hot Raspberry Thunder.
The THIRD THING: For a fun time, you should visit your local HOT SPECIALTY SHOP. Go to your local mega bookseller, and buy a copy of Chile Pepper Magazine. Then look up your state in their listing of hot shops across the nation.
For example, I live in Hawaii and I regularly visit: IT'S CHILI IN HAWAII (2080 S. King St. Suite 105; Honolulu, HI). Wow. Go there. It's just a cute little place but boy is it packed with hot stuff. Salsas, hot sauces, curries, and more. A whole wall full of different hot sauces for sale, including ones with capsaicin-extract. And here' s THE CLINCHER: he's got a refrigerator of all his products so you can taste-test them before you buy! My new faves: Melinda's XXX Reserve, Robert Rothchild Hot Raspberry Thunder, and Blair's After Death Sauce. Check out chili and "hot" paintings by Ron Genta, whose work was in the now-defunct Salsa Kahala. Sometimes I bring Ken & Gary some of my home-made habanero ice cream. Go there today... support this great establishment!
Rob's Hot-sauce reviews I give you a peek at more than forty hot products. Included are sauce-to-sauce comparisons, a few recipes, and suggested foods which harmonize with the sauces, as well as a general description of taste, consistency, and heat level. Therefore these reviews can actually help you make informed decisions when you go out and buy hot sauces, rather than relying on a generic description of "heat and flavor."
Publications
I ran across a book, it's called The Habanero Cookbook. Dave De Witt & Nancy Gerlach, Ten Speed Press; 1995; $17.95. ISBN 0-89815638-6 Contains over 100 recipes using the habanero. Bon Appetit comments: There are recipes for sauces, starters, soups, salads, jerkdishes, meat & fish entrees, & sides; the intriguing possibilities include pepper shrimp, braised pork in tangy tamrind sauce, pepperport soup with herb dumpings, and ceviche made with swordfish. I comment: lots of specific information & history on the Chinsense peppers, the introduction of their cultivation and products into the US. I learned about Melinda's, Coyote Cantina, Inner Light, etc.
Check out publisher Ten Speed Press/Celestial Arts, Box 7623 Berkeley CA 94707 (510) 559-1600. (800) 841-2665. They publish the above Habanero Cookbook, and also: The Fiery Cuisines (Dave DeWitt & Nancy Gerlach), The Pepper Garden (Dave DeWitt & Paul W. Bosland), Hot Peppers (Richard Scweid), The Great Chile Book (Mark Miller - of Coyote Cafe - with John Harrison), books on spicy desserts and vegetarian cooking, and they also make those gorgeous "seco" and "fresco" Chile Pepper Posters.
The Great Hot Sauce Book by Jennifer Trainer Thompson. From Ten Speed Press. Has hundreds of the sauces; you're not likely to run across any not in the book in the USA. Very interesting information on each sauce, and of course has a heat rating. Has a special section on ultra-hot capsaicin-extract sauces a la Dave's Insanity Sauce. Also, Dave DeWitt of Chili Pepper Magazine has a similar book called the Hot Sauce Bible, and is a larger-format book and extremely well organized as well.
Chili Pepper Magazine Stay in touch with the chilehead scene! 1 yr $18.95, 2 yrs $33.95, outside U.S., add $6 for 1 yr, $12 for 2 yrs. PO Box 769; Mt. Morris, IL 61054-0769, or call (800) 959-5468.
The Chilli Press. No Internet link. A new magazine from Australia, with recipes, book reviews, and gardening. Cool ads. PO Box 274; Manly NSW 2095; AUSTRALIA; Phone: 61 (02) 9938-2797.
Vendors without known Internet links
GNS Spices; PO Box 90; Walnut, CA 91788; (909) 594-9505. GNS grows & ships habaneros, including the HOTTEST HABANERO TESTED, the RED SAVINA, which rated 577,000 Scoville Units in 1994! Typical (commercial) habaneros are in the neighborhood of 100,000, and of course Jalapenos are in the meagre 3000s. Wow.
Dat'l Do It; PO Box 4019; St Augustine, FL 32084; (800) HOT-DATL. Carries Datil chile pepper stuff & seeds too. A relative of the habanero.
KAL Int'l; PO Box 482; Hollis, NH 03049; (603) 465-2428. Jamaican Scotch Bonnets, very close relatives (variety?) of the Habanero.
Quetzal Food Int'l; PO Box 13643; New Orleans, LA 70185; (504) 486-0830; Grows Rica Red Habaneros-- products too.
Stonewall Chili Pepper Co.; PO Box 241 Hwy 290E; Stonewall, TX 78671; (800) 232-2995; Habanero grower in Texas
Coyote Cocina; 1590 San Mateo Ln; Santa Fe, NM 87505; (800) 866 HOWL. Fax (505) 988-1300. Coyote Cafes in Santa Fe, Las Vegas, Austin. My favorite hot sauce is from here.
Rob's choice of HOT links
Divided into Hot organizations, Hot vendors, and Hot personal web pages
Hot organizations
Chile God page from Chile Pepper Magazine The only searchable hot stuff Net database. Also, you may write to them at PO Box 80780; Albuquerque, NM 87198; (800) 359 1483
The Chile Heads Home Page Tremendous resources include mailing list, archives, recipes, restaurant & festival listing, growing tips , botany & chemistry & medicine, etc. etc.
Chili Pepper Magazine $18.95 per year (6 issues) or $33.95 for two years (12 issues). Outside US add $6.00/year. PO Box 80780, Albuquerque, NM 87198; (505) 889-9558; Fax: (505) 883-8171. E-mail to admin
Cybersauce's Chile & Hot FAQs: what the peppers look like and what the Scoville Unit and Capsaicinoids are, and how they rate, health issues, etc.
The National Fiery Foods Show Also: E-mail Contact Sunbelt Shows, Inc. for a free brochure: PO Box 4980; Albuquerque, NM 87196; (505) 837-1702, Fax 837-1703.
Rob's Choice of Hot Vendors
Baron Foods, Ltd. Award-winning hot-company from the Carribean
The Brown Adobe The New Mexican Connection... Free catalog including salsas, hot-sauces, BBQ sauces, including El Scorcho!, Oso Hot Sauce, Ay Caramba, Holy Habnero, Notso Hotso, and Monster Mash. (800) 392-2041
Coyote Moon Coyote Moon. 1709 So. Braddock Ave #123, Pittsburgh, PA 15218 (412) 594-4830... coyote@usaor.net Sauces, Jerk, and even dessert salsa for ice cream!
Dave's Gourmet, Inc. E-mail only. Makers of the first capsaicin-added hot sauces, now have everything from salsas, barbecue sauce, and of course several hot sauces. Or call (800) 758-0372 to order.
Heat Me Up "Hot as it gets" selection of hot sauces, info about peppers, monthly hot recipes,graphic on-line catalog.
Hot Hot Hot On-line mail order of every hot sauce on the planet. These guys have my favorites, and even varieties of these I wasn't aware of! Try Melinda's Hot Sauce... or Dave's Insanity... or the Coyote Cocina. Or call them: (800) 959-7742
International Hot Foods Hot sauces; all of the very hot ones, salsas too
Firelip Hot Salmon Jerky Email only. Habanero peppered, alderwood smoked, no msg, no preservatives... Free catalog. (800) FIRELIP; ODCO, Inc.; 6 Redbud; Pittsboro, NC 27312
Mo Hotta Mo Betta The original hot & spicy foods company
Panola Peppers Louisiana's finest hot sauces, spices, and pepper novelty gift items.
Peppers Hot Sauces. Over 600 Hot sauces... including new Georgia Peach and Vidalia Onion hot sauces. Free Catalog. Also 1-800 998-FIRE, Fax: (302) 227-4603; 2009 Highway One; Dewey Beach, DE 19971
Peppers Unlimited, Inc. Includes history of the Jalapeno... available are whole green chiles, jalapenos, sliced jalapenos, bell peppers, and mexican salsa.
Pepperworld...Buy PEPPERS like habanero, thai hot, etc.:
Religious Experience Hot Sauce The best *tasting* salsa anywhere, even Chile Pepper magazine editor agrees! Fun newsletter and recipes.
Salsa Express One stop shopping for all your Salsa and Hot Sauce needs
Smith & SmithVisit their store and tasting bar - over 1000 varieties of salsas, hot sauces
Southwest Spirit Catalogue of gourmet salsas and hot sauce
Tough Love Chile Company...Buy SEEDS like Habanero and Charlestown chile... seeds, growing tips, recipes, etc.
El Yucateco Well known hot sauce makers from Yucatan, Mexico.
Personal Web Pages on Rob's Hot list and other Miscellaneous Hot Stuff and Hot People
The Chile Gallery Image city, so you know what all these peppers look like (even varieties of the varieties), and what their measurements are! Woohoo!
David's Hot Sauces and Chili Peppers A lot of links, including a *plethora* of links to recipes and organizations of all sorts. Chile as well as Chili. Hilarious link to Hell as well.
Fire Girl Home Page Cooking, eating, growing, collecting, worshipping, studying, buying, using, discussing, and none of the above, for hot peppers. Wonderfully appropriate graphics, simple and charming.
Rick's Fabulous Hot Sauce Collection Lists ingredients of them all. Reviews 'em all (at JalaFame), photos of bottles, addresses of mfgs 10 pt scale... Dave's is only a 9... to have your favorite reviewed, send TWO bottles (1 to savor & 1 to collect) to Rick Cooke, 615 Oregon Blvd, Reno NV, 89506
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