Ingredients: fresh scotch bonnet peppers, fresh scallions, fresh onions, fresh garlic, fresh leeks, fresh ginger, coconut cream, cider vinegar, tellicherry peppercorns, honey, cornstarch, sea salt, spices

I recently acquired the Peppermaster gift box which contains 14 sauces, one seasoned salt, and one spicy sugar. They are all 45ml and are enough to get you through a dinner for two and give you a really good idea at the scope and variety that Peppermaster has available.

The smell of this jerk curry was both intense and extremely aromatic as soon as the lid was popped off. This is some serious sauce and the most authentic I have smelt out side of a West Indies restaurant.

The sauce is thick but spread out well when I put the chicken breasts in to be marinated. The colour is what you expect from a jerk sauce so we won’t be throwing any parties for it.

It was great see that when I was grilling these up it didn’t smoke or get all charred. It generated quite an amazing smell throughout the condo. If I was too change anything I would have left some sauce over to throw on top afterwards. I would have also marinated the chicken the night before. The end result though was still a fully flavoured jerk chicken breast that tastes as close to its roots as you can get. I guess for Greg Brooks growing up in the Caribbean helps quite a bit to add to this sauces authenticity.

As for the heat. Well Peppermaster ranks this at a 9 on the their heat scale. I have tried their 10’s and they are quite hot. So I would question the 9 heat level on this. It was more like a 3, 4 tops but that does not deter how amazing this sauce is.

You can feel quite comfortable sharing this sauce with friends without them screaming for milk. It would also make an excellent dip for some samosas and other finger foods as well.

Brooks Pepperfire Foods Inc,
Rigaud, QC
J0P 1P6
www.peppermaster.com

Dear ChiliPal,

So many fun and amazing things have been going on in death sauce land!
New Reserves, New Chip Flavors, New Hot Sauces. All coming soon! And an ever growing legion of chiliheads joining us (Over 40,000 New ChiliHeads This Year Alone). This year I have decided to Make the Texas Reserve available online (Only about 45 of the 99 bottles) ORDER
NOW- http://www.extremefood.com The price online is $200. ($50. Per bottle Sold online will be donated to http://www.smiletrain.org (I am a big fan of what they do). If you choose to acquire a Bottle at the Show in Texas, the Price is $150. Please note- This is the last of a Generation of Reserves. Starting with the 2007 Halloween Reserve I have created an entirely new concept. This T2-99 Is the Last bottle of its Kind to ever be produced. Again only 99 bottles are available Worldwide.

Also please note- Due to an incredibly high order demand, placing your order and receiving an email confirmation is no guarantee of receiving your order. We will take orders on a first come first serve basis and I will make sure that my death team does our very best to make as many chilipals as happy as we can. Much more info soon.

Wishing you all my best. Feel Alive!

Your Chilipal,

Blair

Loco Luna Gourmet Foods, makers of the Lava line of gourmet hot sauces, proudly announces its ZestFest 2007 Collectible. Available only by contacting Loco Luna via email, the ZestFest 2007 Collectible is designed to commemorate Texas.

This third item in the line of Loco Luna collectible reserve sauces is a lovely bit of edible combustion. Like the 2006 Zest Fest Reserve, this collectible is comes in a 5.1 oz, “tall-flat-square” bottle that is more than a great hot sauce; it’s a work of art. Offered in limited numbers (the final number is not yet fixed, but it is not expected to exceed 50), each is hand signed and numbered in gold, adorned with a special silicon-wax blend and topped with a custom seal of the Loco Luna logo. The raised seal is then coated in gold.

For those of you who missed out on the unique ‘swirled’ wax bottles at ZestFest 2006 (about 4 of the 109 ZF Reserves had swirled tops), you will be pleased to know that all of the 2007 ZestFest Reserve features a swirled wax design.

The fresh ingredient sauce itself is wickedly hot and includes a fiery blend of native Texas chilies. This is a hot one and a must have for collectors!

You can get in on the pre-order by emailing me starting today with a number request. Bottles are $49.99 each (pay pal or CC). All bottles will be mailed after the show. Thanks for your support and I look forward to seeing you all in Fort Worth!

You can get in touch with Brian here: Brian @ LocoLuna.net

“Eating Multiple pieces within a short time period may cause a temporary irritation to sensitive tongues and mouths.”

Ingredients: Sugar, Corn Syrup, Malic Acid, Citric Acid, Artificial Flavor, Cayenne, Artificial Colours (Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Red 40)

Flavours in Package:

Lemon-Lime Lava
Cherry Combustion
Tangerine Torcher

These little candies are brought to us by the same company that brought us the infamous War-Heads. And just as War-Heads were sour these are hot. Granted over time I became accustomed to the sourness of war-heads, but it was\is always fun to see how many you can cram in your mouth before you suck your face in. I have had quite a few “Hot” candies and these rank up there with the best of them. The heat mind you is very short lived, about 30 seconds worth, but you are left with a very nice fruit flavoured candy after the fact. Unlike an atomic fireball which will sustain heat for over ½ an hour, but can become quite cumbersome as a treat after the first few minutes.

Just like their Sour War-Head counterparts the level of heat is very inconsistent. You can go from one that has almost little to no heat, to one that lives true to it’s namesake. This is particularly annoying for when you are about to prank someone as they may get a dud and just enjoy the candy it self.

The ingredients list cayenne as the heat generator, but there is no actual cayenne taste. Quite unlike some of the Habanero candies that I have tried that have a very pronounced hab flavour to them. For me this is a good thing cause as much as I love my peppers, sometimes it’s just the heat that I want without the pepper flavour behind it. I think the heat factor on this for the general consumer would be considered pretty high, albeit short lived.

Should you walk into a specialized candy store and see these, I think they are worth a pick up just for novelty sake. The price point is cheap ($1.29 in Toronto) and there is a fun factor too them. Even if you don’t get walloped by heat, the candy still taste’s quite good.

The Foreign Candy Company
1 Foreign Candy Drive
Hull, IA 51239-7499

Ebesse Zozo Hot Sauce

“Considered at least “five times hotter than tabasco”, Ebesse Zozo could definitely be tagged as being “extremely hot!”. Ebesse Zozo is Togolese for hot pepper and gets its fiery heat from the Habanero pepper, which is native to Africa. While abundant in Togo, the people of Togo “eat hot foods at every meal.” It just wouldn’t be the same without hot sauce.

The idea spawned from one of the Segbeayas’ routine visits to their local grocery store (Kootenay Co-op) in Nelson*. The Segbeayas’ love for hot foods certainly “caught the attention of a Kootenay Co-op manager” who wanted to know why they were purchasing entire crates of Habaneros while the most of the other customers could tolerate no more than possibly one or two of the flaming vegetable.

After explaining to the manager about their knack and culture for naturally growing up “eat(ing) hot foods at every meal”, the Assistant Product Manager (Ken Lister) inspired and motivated Edmond Segbeaya to promote, sell, and distribute Ebesse Zozo to as many places as possible. So Edmond decided to start up Awassi as his company to promote his spicy product, and as you now know, the rest is history!

Now let me present my product:
Ebesse Zozo is a hot pepper sauce. Because of the tropical climate in my home country, we use a lot of hot peppers in our daily food. Ebesse Zozo is a combination of many vegetables with the principle ingredient being habanero peppers and is one of the hottest sauces I have ever tasted. It should be refrigerated after opening.
All the ingredients are natural, without vinegar, sugar, MSG, and no chemical preservative.”

Damn, I was not expecting this. I really hope this finds it way to an unsuspecting non chili-heads fridge. They have no idea what they are getting into. I also hope that chiliheads track this sauce down.
Just the smell alone is wonderful. Very strong curry notes along with tumeric and habaneros. And wow is the smell alone misleading. You think you are getting a run of the mill hot curry sauce here, but watch out.

I tried this straight out of the bottle and the instant heat was just incredible. Along with that heat followed along the same great taste that the aroma led you to believe that was here. But I do have to say for that non-chilihead, they have no idea how much heat is packed in here. The bottle is very unassuming. For the chiliheads here, you have a full on hot sauce that is getting closer to the upper realms of the heat chart without any extracts and a full and flavourful sauce.

Ingredients: Habanero Peppers, onions, garlic, vegetable oil, salt, black peppers, ginger, powdered bouillon, tumeric, curry, lemon juice. No Chemical Preservatives.

Ok, lets take a step back here. The label, take it or leave it. It has all the essentials and no exploding rectums. The bottle itself is a very nice 250ml hexagonal that houses a decent amount of sauce. More than just one application. The colour of the sauce isn’t the most appealing, but I have seen worse. There are a lot of visible pieces in it which are nice. The consistency is quite thick and would make a great marinating sauce.

Note that this bottle also was a winner at America’s Best Food Show. Just like Belize has been a hot spot for some great sauces, British Columbia is making a name for itself now with the Denzel leading the way and Awassi tagging along. Make sure to take a look at the awards they have won. This is probably the most award winning line-up you have never heard of.

Lots of applications here for this sauce. From standard Indian dishes to taking a chance with more mainstream dishes, there is a lot of versatility. I am looking forward to making some wings with this stuff.

For those wanting something completely different from a hot sauce and those who finally want “HOT” Indian food. Look no further. This sauce is a gem!

Manufactured by:
Awassi
509 West Houston Street
Nelson, BC
V1L 6C9

205-352-9441
atokoni@shaw.ca
www.awassi.net

Remember that first hot sauce you tried? The one that got the fire burning both physically and mentally. Remember that defining moment when you realized that Tabasco just wasn’t that hot no matter how much more you add to a meal.

Well HSB has been letting you the readers help nominate the sauce for the Hot Sauce of Month. This has been great exposure for sauces that usually slip under the radar. We thought maybe we would mix things up this month and have you nominate the sauce that started it all for you. The sauce that made you see the light and burned out your retinas. The one that kicked your ass twice over but kept you coming back.

Same criteria as before is still the rule. Let’s give some of these veteran sauces some respect!

This bottle looks like it means business right from the start. I have been weary of trying any other steak sauces since I polished off a bottle of THT’s Garlic Lovers Steak Sauce, but it was indeed time to find a replacement or at the least something equally delicious.

This bottle weighs in at a hefty 16oz. so there is no worry that this will be gone after just a few steaks.

Ingredients: Ketchup (Tomato Puree [water, tomato paste]), High Fructose Corn Syrup, Distilled Vinegar, Corn Syrup, Salt, Less than 2% Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Natural Flavors, Molasses, Cider Vinegar, Fig Concentrate, Brown Sugar, Water, Garlic, Dehydrated Onion , Spices (including Chipotle pepper, black pepper), Salt, Natural Hickory Seasoning

The initial smell is quite powerful and drool inducing. It has a sweet note to it with a pleasant smoky flavour following up. It is quite thick for a steak sauce, but pours out liberally and without hesitation in great uniform. The colour is very dark and there are flecks of seeds and spices scattered throughout. A very striking sauce in the smell and looks department thus far.

The first taste was like a minor epiphany. No heat here, a bit of spice, but just an overall mouth filling sensation of an incredible sauce that perfectly compliments the steak. The manufacturers have really developed a superior sauce here and if it is any indication of the quality of their other products then I can’t wait to try them.

Earlier I mentioned about the quick demise of my bottle of THT’s Garlic Lover’s Steak Sauce. Well there is room in the fridge for both of thia. As the THT’s GLSS provides the heat and garlic for those looking for that extra something on their steak, this provides that perfect steak topping for others who may not be so inclined. There is a touch of heat but nothing that most people couldn’t easily handle.

Great Stuff!

Freedom Grill
Poway, CA 92064
www.freedomgrill.com

Well it has been along time coming for this interview. But we were finally able to corner Julie and Mark to see what goes on behind the scenes at Palmetto Pepper Potions.

Palmetto Pepper Potions hot sauce company was founded in 2004 by Hot Honcho Mark Riffle and Potionologist Julie Riffle. Based in Columbia, South Carolina, Palmetto Pepper Potions has earned nine food industry awards and has been featured in Chef magazine, Southern Living magazine, The Toronto Star and other publications.

HSB Interview Questions:
1. Why hot sauce? Where did the idea come from for you to get involved doing this?
Mark: One day our friend, photographer John Mann, showed up at work with about 300 chile pepper plants. He had ordered a bunch of pepper seeds over the Internet and had asked some friends to plant them in their greenhouse. He thought they would plant a few seeds from each packet, but they planted every seed from every packet. I loaded as many as I could fit into my car and we planted them all over our yard. We landscaped with chile plants that year – along the driveway, among the wildflowers – anywhere we could plant them.

My Dad built some raised garden beds for us and even filled them with rich soil from my hometown in West Virginia.

Julie: It was serendipity all the way. Palmetto Pepper Potions would not have been born without John Mann’s generous gift of pepper plants, Mark’s passion for gardening and spicy foods and my love of cooking. When all those gorgeous peppers got ripe, we didn’t want to waste them, so I started experimenting with making hot sauce.

After a few forgettable concoctions, I soon created a few sauces that we knew we would always want to have in our refrigerator. My appreciation for the individual nuances of different varieties of chile peppers developed quickly and my love of spicy flavors began. In our early stages we used to invite friends over for hot sauce creation nights. Everyone brought ingredients, empty bottles and their favorite beverages and we had a blast.

2. If you had to pick a favorite sauce of yours, which would it be?
That depends entirely on the food we’re eating. For seafood – especially crab cakes and grilled shrimp and scallops — we love Larynx Lava. Larynx Lava also mixes well with peanut butter and honey to create an Asian-style peanut sauce. Molten Golden is our choice for pork, chicken, salmon, good southern macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs and many other foods. We reach for Daily Red for pasta, pizza, Mexican food, scrambled eggs and oysters. Trenholm Venom is our hottest flavor and we love it on grilled chicken wings, meat loaf, hummus, sweet potatoes, sausage, lasagna, soups and stews. Trenholm Venom is excellent stirred into all natural peanut butter for a savory party spread.

3. Any new products we should be ready for from your line?
We have lots of fun hot sauce flavors and spicy condiments in the works. We plan to introduce them as our budget allows.

4. Where do you see the future of hot sauce 5 years from now? 10? 20?
We see it continuing to grow. People who adore hot sauce couldn’t possibly return to the land of the bland. We have had toddlers come up to our tasting table and try our spicy appetizers and then come back for more. We also have repeat customers who are in their 80s and 90s. We see the trend toward spicy, flavorful foods escalating as more people seek bold, interesting tastes and fun ways to spice up their meals.

As our country continues to become more diverse, people are exposed to new flavors and new ways of combining ingredients to create new tastes.

5. What is your favorite sauce that you don’t make?
Julie: Scorned Woman
Mark: A homemade sauce that a buddy of ours makes.

6. Do you eat the sauce you make?
Every day! We can’t imagine not having these flavors on our table all the time. We might have Daily Red on a scrambled egg pita for breakfast, Larynx Lava over an avocado and grilled chicken salad for lunch and Molten Golden Maple Salmon for dinner. We enjoy our sauces every day, take plenty along when we travel and share them with friends, family, our favorite bands and everyone we meet.

7. What do you eat hot sauce on?
Most everything! We have customers who eat Larynx Lava and Molten Golden on ice cream and some who like to drizzle our hot sauce over popcorn.

8. What sets you aside from the other hot sauce producers out there today?
We use fresh, natural ingredients and no artificial flavorings, colorings or preservatives. We also don’t use high fructose corn syrup. We make sauces that attract a strong following of loyal customers who buy them again and again. We love to hear about their favorite flavors and how they use our sauces. On our website, (www.pepperpotions.com) we share easy recipes that make it simple for even a novice cook to make delicious appetizers and meals with minimal effort. You don’t have to peel the ginger, chop the garlic, mince the herbs or add extra salt or seasonings because everything is already balanced in the bottle, just waiting to add intense flavor to your dishes.

Mark: We specialize in tasty heat, not “hurt ya” heat.

9. What is your inspiration before you embark on a new concoction?
I concoct the flavor in my head first — then think about how to bring it to life. Each of our flavors has been handcrafted to the music of a favorite band or musician. Music has a powerful effect on what we create.
Daily Red was handcrafted to the music of Sister Hazel (www.sisterhazel.com) Larynx Lava was handcrafted to the music of Mark Kano, founder and lead singer of Athenaeum Molten Golden was handcrafted to the music of Mike Garrigan (www.mikegarrigan.com) Trenholm Venom was handcrafted to the music of Danielle Howle (www.daniellehowle.com)

Before our hot sauce was on the market, we used to take along homemade bottles when we went to see our favorite bands. It was exciting to hear back from them about how much they liked the sauce.

In the case of Larynx Lava, I had received a box of fresh tangerines and citrus grown by my Dad in Florida. We had lots of beautiful ripe red habanero peppers in our garden. I had been in touch with Mark Kano about a ginger dressing he makes and I decided to develop a hot sauce with tangerines, ginger, pineapple and fresh herbs.

Mark Kano has been my favorite singer since I first heard his voice when Athenaeum was touring in support of their “Radiance” record. Because we love his music so much, I wanted to create a sauce in his honor. The first homemade batch turned out exactly as I’d imagined. The Hot Honcho came up with the name Larynx Lava because of the way the initial sweet heat seduces you before the fiery wave hits you at the back of the throat.

10. Outside of creating hot products, what else keeps you occupied or out of trouble?
We love gardening, travel and spending time with our precious “Pepper Princess”, Mia. We also have fun naming new flavors.

11. Any weird stories or uses for your hot sauce that you would like to share?
Hot Honcho: I encourage expectant mothers to imbibe a shot or two of Trenholm Venom close to their due date in the hopes that it will induce labor. This is purely anecdotal, of course! If nothing else, a good shot of hot sauce might take your mind off other things.

Julie: My weirdest experience was dealing with a contractor who had done some work at our house and became addicted to Molten Golden. After the work was done, he kept showing up at our door, begging for sauce. This was before our sauce was on the market and each homemade bottle was a labor of love. I had to peel every mango and do all the slicing and chopping and was trying to make enough bottles for Christmas presents.

This guy would show up clutching a paper bag of shriveled green cayennes and think I could just whip up a batch of Molten Golden for him from those sad little peppers. One day he arrived when I had a couple of batches in the works. There is no mistaking those heady habanero fumes and the scent of Molten Golden in the air. He begged for sauce because he was having company that weekend and had planned his cookout menu around Molten Golden.

At this point, he had come by so often that I thought about calling the sheriff’s deputy next door. Instead, I gave him a couple of bottles to hit the road and made him promise not to come back.

We’ve never seen him since, but hope he buys Molten Golden now that it is readily available in our area.

12. How much sauce do you make in a week?
We have four flavors, so we make a batch of a particular flavor every four to six weeks as needed, depending on our supply. For us, a batch is about 120 cases. Even though our Molten Golden flavor has earned the most awards, the four flavors sell very evenly because each one has its own fans.

13. How many different recipes do you go through when developing a new sauce?
Julie: For me, creating a batch of the flavor that has been brewing in my imagination is intuitive. The difficult part happens when the recipe has to be batch-scaled in order to be made in a huge quantity. The production process is completely different from making a small batch in your home kitchen.

Mark: We have a home garden with many varieties of peppers so that we can work on new flavors of hot sauce. This year, we’re growing Bhut Jolokia and some other types we plan to experiment with.

14. How did you get started in the industry?
You reach a point where you simply cannot keep up with the demand from people you love. Just trying to make enough to keep family and friends supplied was more than we could do. Everyone wanted it and when I was making it in our kitchen for gifts, I could spend hours and only have a few bottles to show for all the work involved.

When Mark’s Grandma Betty passed away, she bequeathed a gift that allowed us to begin working toward getting our hot sauce on the market. Grandma Betty was an avid gardener and we think she would be pleased with what her gift has become.

15. What is your biggest challenge so far?
One of our biggest challenges is establishing distribution channels to get the sauces delivered to stores. Getting a store to agree to carry our sauce is the easy part.

We’ve been excited to get our sauces into stores in Canada (www.salivate.ca) (www.thespicerack.ca) and in Costa Rica (www.bananabaymarina.com).

We have the same financial challenges all young businesses face. Producing a specialty food product is a huge financial endeavor and 96 percent of all new food products fail within the first three years. It takes a long time to recoup your initial investment and a lot of capital to sustain and grow your business.

Fortunately, we’ve been very successful in getting our sauces into stores and the people who taste them become repeat buyers. We’ve also been fortunate with being featured in a number of magazines, newspapers and some television news stories. Less than six months after we launched our first flavor, an editor for Southern Living magazine discovered our website. The article was published in July 2006 and was a nice boost in sales and awareness. The Toronto Star did a wonderful review of Molten Golden in March 2007 and that created quite a buzz for us.

16. What is the most common question you get?
“Is it hot?”
Even though the Hot Honcho is decked out in full pepper attire, our table is draped in chile pepper table linens and everything on our table is decorated with chile peppers, many people still have to ask, “Is it hot?” The Hot Honcho is quick to respond – “We make hot sauce, not apple sauce.”

17. What do you want to know from the readers of the HSB?
When you’re standing in front of a big selection of hot sauces, what makes you choose a particular bottle that you’ve never tried before? Bottle shape? Cool label? Ingredients?

18. What’s a typical day for you?
We’ve become accustomed to sleep deprivation, working nights and working most weekends. On weekdays, Mark is a human resources manager for a state agency and Julie is communications coordinator for a children’s hospital. We have a 5-year-old daughter, Mia, who accompanies us to all of our tasting events and is quickly becoming a chilehead. Our desire is to “Make Every Day Sizzle” and to laugh as often as possible. Hot sauce is the most fun, creative business we could imagine and we want to enjoy this opportunity to connect with other hot sauce lovers. We’re blessed with supportive friends and family. We also enjoy great meals every day.

19. Worst burn ever?
Eating some fresh fatalii peppers that we grew last summer. It’s an entirely different kind of burn than you get from the hottest habanero. We were so intrigued that we ordered twice as many fatalii plants for this year’s home garden.

20. Best burn ever?
Celebrating our surprise Scovie Award when our first flavor – Molten Golden – won a First Place Scovie shortly after we introduced it in 2004. We were stunned that a major award could happen so quickly. We enjoyed much bubbly and many celebratory meals in honor of that win.

Awards:
Molten Golden
1st Place Golden Chile Award — Hot Sauces, International — ZestFest 2005 1st Place Golden Chile Award — Hot Sauces, International — ZestFest 2006 1st Place Scovie Award — Hot Sauces, World Beat — Fiery-Foods & Barbecue Show 2005 1st Place Scovie Award — Hot Sauces, World Beat — Fiery-Foods & Barbecue Show 2006 3rd Place Scovie Award — Hot Sauces, Caribbean Style — Fiery-Foods & Barbecue Show 2007 2nd Place Award — Hot Sauces, Caribbean Style — America’s Best Professional Food Competition 2006

Larynx Lava
1st Place Golden Chile Award — Hot Sauces, Asian Style — ZestFest 2005 3rd Place Golden Chile Award — Hot Sauces, Asian Style — ZestFest 2006 3rd Place Scovie Award — Hot Sauces, Unique — Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show 2006

Flavors:
Palmetto Pepper Potions’ sauces are handcrafted for superbly balanced flavor, harmonized with exceptional fire. Try Daily Red’, Larynx Lava’, Molten Golden’, and Trenholm Venom’. Our sauces are inspired by the beauty, hospitality and heat of South Carolina.

Daily Red
Give us this day our Daily Red. This irresistible elixir fires up scrambled eggs, grits, oysters, burgers, hot dogs, fries, fish, shrimp, chicken, ribs, grilled vegetables, cheeses, sandwiches, wraps, quesadillas, soups, pizza and pasta dishes. Daily Red was handcrafted to the music of Sister Hazel (www.sisterhazel.com)

Larynx Lava
Larynx Lava is a journey for your tastebuds. Red habaneros are kissed with an afterglow of tangerine, ginger and fresh herbs. Try Larynx Lava on grilled scallops, crab cakes, shrimp, chicken, veal, pork, sushi, stir-fry dishes, cheeses, vegetables, wraps and sandwiches. Larynx Lava was handcrafted to the music of Mark Kano.

Molten Golden
A Caribbean treasure bursting with fresh mangoes, cumin and curry in a mustard brew. Great on chicken, beef, barbecue, ham, sausage, hot dogs, burgers, seafood, vegetables, macaroni and cheese, deviled eggs, pasta salad and sandwiches. Molten Golden was handcrafted to the music of Mike Garrigan (www.mikegarrigan.com)

Trenholm Venom
Trenholm* rhymes with Venom. The name of a legendary shipping captain fits our hottest sauce yet. Trenholm Venom rages with fire-roasted red peppers, red habaneros, peaches, a touch of ginger, garlic, fresh herbs and molasses. Savor it on salmon, oysters, scallops, shrimp, pork tenderloin, beef, lamb, veal, grilled chicken wings, sandwiches, cheeses and roasted vegetables. Trenholm Venom was handcrafted to the music of Danielle Howle & the Tantrums (daniellehowle.com)
*Pronounced TREN-um
Our Trenholm Venom flavor currently is featured on tables at The Inn at Palmetto Bluff (www.palmettobluffresort.com), near Hilton Head, SC, which was chosen #2 Top US Resort in the Reader’s Choice Awards 2006 in Conde Nast Travel magazine.

Palmetto Pepper Potions, LLC
PO Box 6126
Forest Acres, SC 29260
803-782-8020
www.pepperpotions.com

Would you like to be interviewed or otherwise featured on the HSB? Check out our Want to be featured page for more information. We’re waiting to hear from you!

Denzel is the hot sauce master of minimalism. Give him 5-6 or ingredients and he will give you back 5-6 unique sauces independent of one another. Not only does he make do with the ingredients he uses but he selects organic ingredients and utilizes small craft producers.

This is going to be a triple review just to give you the comparison. Three sauces, same ingredients, three totally unique sauces.

Denzel’s Fire Hazard (2005 Fiery Food Challenge Winner), Gourmet Habanero Hot Sauce, Dangerous Goods (2005 Scovie Award Winner)

Ingredients: Vinegar, onions, habanero peppers, garlic, salt, basil

Yup, that’s it, same order, same ingredients for all three sauces. Now I know some companies that take the same sauce a just slap different labels on them and market each sauce to a certain demographic. Denzel could have done the same thing with his award winning sauces but that’s not the type of guy he is.

So the basis for this is going to be quite simple…..right out of the bottle.

All three sauces have great colour, aroma, and viscosity. Dangerous Goods being the thickest of the three. There was a bit of separation on the Fire Hazard and Gourmet Habanero, but not enough to warrant anything negative. Plus I didn’t give the bottles a fair shake (pun intended).

Denzel’s Dangerous Goods
As I mentioned Dangerous Goods is much thicker than the other two and almost had a paste like quality. The taste was very deep and rich that gave a little fire after a few seconds. Just enough to let you get all the flavours acquainted and then held on for a few minutes. The heat level was a solid medium. There is no doubt as too why this is an award winner.

Denzel’s Fire Hazard

Fire Hazard hit hard and fast. The burn comes quickly but doesn’t stick around for too long. The vinegar and habs take hold right away but it doesn’t have the stamina to keep the burn going for very long. The flavour of this is very sharp on the nose and is reminiscent of any superb habanero hot sauce that you would always pick as your go to sauce in a pinch. Fast and stingy sauce here that is great for heating things up in a hurry.

Gourmet Habanero Hot Sauce

The Gourmet Habanero Hot Sauce is the mild mannered good natured one of the trio. It makes you feel comfortable right away with pronounced Habanero flavour and good dash of garlic. No surprises here in the heat department. The vinegar takes a back seat here to let the habs and garlic do the talking.

Denzels’ Gourmet Foods Ltd.
Box 398 Enderby B.C.
V0E 1V0
www.denzelshotsauce.com

Pepperfire Heats up Haitian Economy Importing Goat Peppers
Brooks Pepperfire Foods Inc. of Rigaud, Quebec joins forces with Haitian Farm Operation, Greenland Corporation to bring economic reforms to Haiti through fair trade chili pepper initiative.

Rigaud, QC, July 20, 2007: Today, Brooks Pepperfire Foods of Rigaud Quebec announced the launch of a fresh pepper sauce made entirely from Haitian Goat Peppers. Part of the company’s Pepperfire Initiative to create a market for Fair Trade chili peppers, Goat Pepper Mash is the first in a line of pepper products that will bring economic reform to chili pepper farmers the world over. The Pepperfire Initiative is designed to help impoverished farmers improve their economic status by bringing fair trade chili peppers to market. Greenland Corporation has applied for Fair Trade Status with Flo-Cert.org the world pricing organization for Fair Trade certification. Once priced, the chili peppers become eligible for Fair Trade status.
For more information, contact Tina Brooks or read news article attached.

===========

Pepperfire Foods Pepperfire Iniative.
An article by Tina Brooks, July 20, 2007

One of the poorest countries in the world and the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti is just a stone’s throw from our back door. Bordering on the lush green and wealthy by comparison, Dominican Republic, the economic difference between the two countries is staggering. Haiti suffers from horrific poverty and 77% of Haitians live on less than $2 per day.

Greg Brooks, Peppermaster and President for Brooks Pepperfire Foods of Rigaud, Quebec says of the situation, “I remember the constant flow of Haitians escaping in small and medium sized boats and landing on the shores of Nassau in the hopes of earning income to send back to their impoverished communities — And it hasn’t stopped.” Brooks Pepperfire foods is one of the many Canadian companies working to help improve the economic situation of Haitians by participating in growing the Haitian economy through trade.

Haiti has been known to the world as a hotbed of political unrest for the over 200 years it has been independent. Through the Political struggles the country has suffered at the hands of politicos who have as yet been unsuccessful in raising the nation from a state of civil war and unrest.

The current status of the country is that although a democratically elected Government headed by Prime Minister Rene Preval is in place, there is much dissent from supporters of ex-Prime Minister Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who tendered his resignation and fled the country in 2004. Aristide claims from his exile in Africa that he was kidnapped and forced to leave the country by the CIA, a charge the CIA vehemently denies.

As a result, supporters of Aristide and supporters of Rene Preval clash daily in the capital city of Port-au-Prince. Most recently, a rally was held last Sunday by supporters of Aristide claiming that Preval had turned his back on him and thus Preval is a traitor to their country.

Today, political controversy aside, the nation is rife with unemployment, illegally armed rebels rule the streets and the infrastructure of the country is in tatters. Poverty is so prevalent that many will risk their lives trying to escape, and families, believing it will improve the lot of not only themselves, but their children, will sell them into indentured slavery, a system known as restaveques. The families are promised that their children will be well cared for, educated and will be better off, but this is not the case. These children are treated badly and even tortured, many left to sleep on the floor without covers. Over half a million children under the age of 14 are believed to be living as restaveques and over 80% of them are girls.

The military was fired by Preval’s cabinet for fear that they would launch a coup and depose him. The police force although trained by the Canadian RCMP is in disarray and is riddled with corruption because they do not get paid with any regularity, and an unnamed member of the RCMP confided that even if they were to receive their paycheques, there is no guarantee that the corruption would cease.

Kidnappings for ransom are a regular occurrence and many who must travel do so under armed guard. The infrastructure is in such poor condition that it is near impossible to put a phone call through to an existing phone number at the best of times.

The education system is practically nonexistent and the illiteracy rate in Haiti is well over 50%. Amidst cries by the populaton to put education on the top of the agenda as important to the advancement of Haiti as a nation state, the Government refuses to comply. Odlly, Government funds are not allotted in any significant numbers for the purposes of education.

Living in Haiti is not easy.

As importers of fresh chili peppers, Brooks Pepperfire Foods of Rigaud Quebec is in the unique position of being able to really make a difference to a small part of Haiti’s downtrodden economy. Last fall, they were contacted by Roland Hyppolite, owner of Greenland Corporation, a small farm in Haiti, near the border of the Dominican Republic. Roland would like to make a difference in his life and cannot wait for the Government to make it happen, so he’s doing what he can trying to find purchasers in North America for his goat peppers. By purchasing Greenland Corporation’s chili peppers and working with them to get their goat pepper crops certified for Fair Trade, Brooks Pepperfire Foods can help Roland build a legacy for the people who work on his farm and hopefully give Haiti one of the many hands it needs to move itself into the future, without it being a handout.

It’s hard to understand what exactly Fair Trade does for farmers, until you watch a film such as Black Gold the story of Tadesse Meskela and the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union working with Oxfam or read the results of the study on the impact of fair trade on coffee farmers in Costa Rica by the University of Sussex, published in 2002. The study found that in the previous 10 years, (the approximate time of Fair Trade inception), just over half of the producers could identify improvements to their home, one third had repaid long-standing debts and one third had prolonged the time their children spent in education. One third of respondents who had to transport their harvest to market on foot, five years later were driving cars or trucks.

One respondent in the study described the difference that Fair Trade pricing of the coffee made to them this way: “Para nosotros, fue una revolución: antes, la casa no era a nosotros, ahora sí.” which translated to English reads: For us, it was like a revolution. Before, this house was not ours, now it is.

Brooks Pepperfire Foods and Greenland Corporation agreed to a fair price for the Haitian goat peppers pending the pricing from the Fair Trade Certification pricing board. Pricing of which would allow the chili peppers to be certified fair trade. The peppers are flown into Canada using the only means available, which is Air Canada Cargo, when Roland can make it safely to the airport. Once the Fair Trade pricing is in place, they will know how much of this cost price will become a Fair Trade premium that can be used to help dig wells, improve housing or even pay for education.

Currently, Flo-Cert is repricing Fair Trade coffee, which is a huge task and completion of that task is necessary before Flo-Cert can price Roland’s peppers. Both companies and TransFair Canada are hoping that they will be priced soon. Once certified, they will be available as such and the sauces that contain them, beginning with the Pepperfire Goat Pepper Mash, will apply for fair trade certification with TransFair Canada.

Brooks Pepperfire Foods currently markets three products certified fair trade through a sub-licensing agreement with Oxfam Equitas of Montreal.