The Instant Caterer has been around for ages at the South end of the St. Lawrence Market. I used to frequent it regularly to see what collectibles they were selling at regular prices unknowingly. After I had joined the HSB I had visited them to do an initial store review and also would assist customers with hot sauce selections but was promptly thrown out of the store by the lady that holds the regular shift during the day.

At that time the sauces were limited and were brutally over priced. I used to call the place the Instant Rip Off (aside from the few collectibles I was able to get). Then I finally met the owner Stephen. I introduced myself and told him about his products (and how over priced they were) and told him about products he should consider carrying. Lo and behold a few weeks later I visit and the shelves have been expanded, restocked with new items and prices adjusted fairly. This is no longer The Instant Rip Off but quite possibly one of the best hot shops now in the city. Not only do they carry hundreds of brands of hot sauces, BBQ sauces, marinades and rubs. They live true to the name of the Instant Caterer. Freezers are stocked with everything imaginable to get a party started off right. From big shin digs to quaint little gatherings.

Next time you can make it down to the Market drop by The Instant Caterer and say hi to Stephen and let him know you read about his store from the HSB.

There remains little doubt that chiles are a world wide craze. For proof, one need look no further than the center of Copenhagen Denmark of all places, where you’ll find one of Europes’ first shops dedicated exclusively to all things chile… or chili. Just a block from the University, nestled in amongst the many historic buildings along a street than can only be described as ‘eclectic’, sits the “Chilihouse”.

A view of the shop, looking back up the street. There is a strange and interesting mix of shops on the street including boutique dress shops, an S & M store, the “Jailhouse Bar”, bookstores, and business offices. Quite a bit of pedestrian traffic though it isn’t quite on the main walkway. There is a fair amount of walk in traffic as well as folks looking specifically for the shop. It is located about as near to the very center of Copenhagen as one can get.

The shop is owned, managed, and staffed by Mr. Henning Petersen, a gentle giant who has fast gained a reputation as one of his country’s leading experts on all things ‘hot’. As his shop consists of equal amounts of products from Mild to Wild® and CaJohns Fiery Foods® among others, his eye for quality is little questioned

An interior shot of part of the shop. Featured in this section is clothing, ceramics, ball caps, napkins, fajita kits (complete with cast iron skillet), and dip mixes ALL with chile pepper designs. He has an excellent range of products, not just limited to sauces & salsas.

This designer boutique features an assortment of sauces, salsas, chutneys, chili vinegars, clothing, pottery and dip mixes as well as art and BBQ sauces. CaJohns’ Select Purees are among the better sellers and are featured prominently.

Translation anyone? Needless to say, there is quite a bit of signage in the shop explaining to folks just what all the stuff is. Education is a big part of Hennings’ work. Here is a sign explaining all about CaJohns’ Select Purees.

The shop has been open now for just over two weeks and celebrated its’ Grand Opening this past Friday (May 11) to quite a bit of fanfare. My wife and I considered ourselves fortunate indeed to be able to take part in this event. The event was actually quite formal, invitation only with wine, beer and soda served to the almost 125 people who attended.

A crowd shot during the Grand Opening. This was a bit early into the event while it was still possible to move about the shop. For a long while, it was absolutely impossible to move about the place as it was packed with people. Henning estimated there were about 125 people attended during the 4 hours of the opening party. Given that the shop might be 500 square feet total, that was impressive in it’s own right!

The opening of the shop had received quite a bit of press, with articles appearing in the two largest newspapers and a magazine. Most of the articles centered around this ‘quite fierce’ sauce called “Stupid Hot” which elicited intense curiosity from all around. If you’re up on your Danish, you can read the articles here and here. Additionally, another appears here Mr Petersen tried to warn these folks that they really had no idea what ‘hot’ was all about but there just was no teacher like experience

What I found to be one of the nicest touches about the Grand Opening was that it featured free wine, beer, & sodas in addition to all the chile pepper sampling. Abby, due to her extensive bar tending background, was tapped to handle those chores & she did so with relish… and a few Tuborgs for herself

The Danes are a remarkable people, taking great pride in their ‘averageness’. Orderly and conservative, we were assured that there was no part of the city we could wander into and have any fear at all.

Indeed, it seemed that every time we stopped to check the map, we would have at least one or two people stop to ask if they could be of any help. Probably 90% of the country speaks English and communications were not an issue- except when I’d try to say: jeg taler ikke Dansk, undskyld (I don’t speak Danish, sorry). Most folks prior to our trip told me of the supposed legal pot cafes and red light districts but these are most assuredly NOT a part of the Danish culture. Many people confuse the Danish with the much more liberal Dutch, located a few hundred miles to the southwest (Denmark vs Holland).

The proprietor of the Chilihouse, Mr Henning Petersen. The Danish King of Chilies.
So, Henning- a chile pepper shop in Copenhagen? Kinda unique huh, given the extreme level of Danish food?
I’ve had a long time love of chili peppers, found myself between jobs and thought it was a great time to give it a try. Danish food is changing a bit just like the rest of the worlds’. Probably slower than most but many Danes are very curious about other foods and are especially intrigued with these ‘fierce’ things called chilies

Obstacles in opening the shop?
Several. Copenhagen is *extraordinarily* expensive and finding a shop for lease in the right spot doesn’t come along very often. That this shop, in such an ideal location, was available was extremely fortunate. Lead times for ordering from suppliers is also quite lengthy. As I have little track record, most of what I need for sales is guessed at for the moment. Converting all the labels into their Danish equivalents is also time consuming.

Finding much local interest?
Yes, quite a bit. There has been quite a bit of media coverage since this is such a unique thing. It is certainly Denmark’s’ first chili pepper shop and I believe it to be the first of it’s kind in Europe. Articles have appeared in the two largest newspapers and a rather amusing one featured one of the reporters giving the ‘Stupid Hot’ a try. I did everything I could to warn him he did not know what he was about to do. The picture is of him sitting on the floor speechless after a minute or two

Where’d you learn about chiles?
I’ve been to the US many times as well as Thailand and other places. I’ve even attended the Fiery Foods Show in Albuquerque and was amazed at all the different sauces. I’ve used chilies for a long time in cooking for myself and have taught some cooking classes. [Authors’ note- Henning is also the published author of a Danish Chile pepper Cookbook- “Jeg Elsker Chili” (I love chile) and a follow up one on Cajun.]

Having fun yet?
Yes. People will come into the shop and tell me they want something strong and go straight for the ‘Stupid Hot’. I try to tell them that they have no idea what they’re getting into, but there is just no explaining it. I offer samples to them but they just will try it at home they say. They just have *no* clue what’s about to happen and it is fun imagining their surprise. I try my best to converse with them to find their needs and steer them to something more suitable like CaJohns’ Select Purees but many times it is without success. They will learn pretty quick I suspect

During one of the *very rare* moments of sunshine, I snapped this quick pic of a street scene along one of the many canals of Copenhagen. The sun shone the day we got there and the day we left and inbtween was a week of clouds, rain, wind, cold, damp, and dreary- typical early Spring I’m told.
Drop it to about 34 F and that describes their lengthy winter as well. No wonder these folks were such renowned explorers!

All in all we had a fantastic time in Denmark. Not germane to this review are all of the many pics I took of the castles, cathedrals and sites to be seen while wandering the city. Not known as a specific ‘hot’ tourist destination, Copenhagen is nonetheless *well* worth a trip! Expensive, amazingly so, but well worth putting on any itinerary.

Should you find yourself in the neighborhood, stop in and pay a visit to the Chilihouse!

Chilihouse
Studiestraede 40
1455 Copenhagen K
Denmark
Phone 4085 8020

I want to take a second and say “Thank You” to Nick L. who does such a great job operating this site and for also giving me the chance to be a true chilihead by becoming a reviewer. I finished proctoring exams on Tuesday and I thought to myself, “What can I do since I have some time off now?” I decided “Hey let’s go do a hot sauce review for the hotsauceblog.” I recently just did one on Marie Sharp’s Comatose. I was thinking “Lets do something different and do a hot sauce shop”. So I hopped into my car and I head
down to a local hot sauce shop that I learned about from Huvason! Thanks Huv!

Location: The Hot Sauce Shop located at 189 B Portion Road, Ronkonkoma, NY 11799. Phone 631-467-9378 (ZEST). Store hours are M-Th. 12-7, Fri-Sat. 11-4, and Sun. 11-4. I have been informed that they are going to increase their store hours coming up in the near future.

Website: www.notjusthotsauce.com I have been told that they are working on to improve their website.

Store Owners: Brandon and Michelle R. have entered into the world of the hot sauce business as recently as May of 2006. Brandon and Michelle got into the idea of starting a store because Brandon loves to cook using hot sauce and BBQ sauce(ribs I believe are his favorite, but he does cook whole pigs!). About 6 years ago Brandon tried Cheech’s Garlic, which is now one of his favorite sauces. He got more into hot sauces as I am sure we all have memories of. He became more interested in the industry and continued to buy more hot sauces and he often received hot sauces as gifts. He is always willing to try a new product. The idea started because initially Brandon wanted to open a restaurant but having a 2 yr. old son that needs to be raised made Michelle and Brandon step to the store instead.

The pig is really cute! I wish I had something like that as a kid for a giant piggy bank or something.

When you walk in to the left there is refrigerator which stores hot sauces that are for taste to the public. The store owners will often open a bottle for you to taste if there is something you want to try that is not already open. Michelle’s very sauces tend to be the sweet ones such as Blair’s Sweet Death to something as Dave’s Roasted Garlic. Michelle is definitely not up to anything extreme and I am sure she won’t be sitting along with me in any Defcon Deathmatches in the near future.

To the right of the refrigerator and straight when you walk in is the front desk. Above on the top shelf you will see there “HOT STUFF”. Various candies can be purchased here as well as the mini mini bottles of Tabasco! I love giving these as small stocking stuffers to my students!! Be careful as I hear there is a batch of them that are spiked with Jersey Death? Would I do such a thing?

More Pictures of the Hot Sauce Shop after the fold (more…)

On Saturday, the wife and I braved the wet weather and drove 3 hours to DE from NYC to visit Peppers in Rehoboth. The Peppers retail store is located in a huge outlet shopping mall, allowing the wife to wander off and shop while I hung out in the store with Luther, Chip, Sandy & Blair.

Right as you walk into Peppers, a salsa sampling bar

Blair, signing bottles behind the counter @ Peppers

Some of Peppers Awards

Hot Gift Baskets

Hot sauces & more hot sauces

Dry Rubs & Snacks

BBQ, Jerks & Wing sauces

Peppers Crab Salsas

A look from the back of the store out

Even more hot sauces

A chilehead mantra

Jumbo Sized hot sauces

And yet, more hot sauces

Peppers is the largest hot shop, not just on the East cost, but nationwide according to Luther and it’s still a family run business after all these years. In fact, the Hern family owns & operates several business in the Rehoboth area.

If your in the area or even 3-4 hours away, take the time to visit Peppers - you won’t be disappointed. Watch out for the Mega Death brownie if you are a newb chilehead - ask for extras if your like the rest of us. Make sure to say “HI” to the Pepper Queen and watch out for the extendable fork she carries.

Peppa Royale Gourmet Pepper Sauce

I knew it would happen sooner or later, the more reviews I choose to do, the odds would raise and I would come to my first hurdle. Now before you jump to a conclusion, hear me out. I had the opportunity to try Peppa Royale Gourmet Pepper Sauce form Dave’s Pepper Palace. It came in a large sized 12oz. bottle (does this bottle make me look fat) and the label just screams out at you with a neat little cartoon royal pepper and a lot of color. My hurdle came pretty quickly, I always look at the actual product and read the label fully before I break the seal and dig in. Don’t get me wrong it’s nothing Dave’s Pepper Palace has done, but as I read the ingredient list, the first item listed is Raisins! Here in lies my problem, simply put - Yuck! I don’t like raisins. I do not care for their texture, their flavor, or for how they look. HURDLE: How do I give this sauce a fair shake, how do I not let my personal tastes interfere in someone elses hard work, and why do I have to eat raisins!

Ingrdients: Raisins, Worcestershire, Brown Sugar, Tomato Paste, Vinegar, Mango, Habanero Peppers, Garlic, Onion, Salt, and spices

“Winner of multiple awards, including the coveted Golden Chili and Fiery Foods Show Awards, Peppa Royale is a savory and flavorful Carribean style sauce with just a hint of heat. You’ll feel like your in a sunny island paradise basking in the cool breezes!”

It should be easy to deduct from the ingredient list, this sauce is sweet through and through. From the first smell upon opening the bottle it’s the quick burst of the Worcestershire, it is the primary ingrdient and it makes itself known. That is quickly followed by sweet, it’s what you smell the most- the mixture of the Brown Sugar and the Raisins- very BBQ sauce-ish smelling. The Peppa Royale pours very thick, again very much like a BBQ sauce. The color is a deep mahogany with visible specks of pepper and spices, you can feel and taste the garlic and onion pieces almost giving the sauce a chunky texture.

We used the Peppa Royale Gourmet Pepper Sauce with brunch - makes us sound sophisticated, but actually we slept so late that day we just couldn’t call it breakfast. We made Bagel Sandwiches with Canadian Bacon, Eggs, and Cheese with Hashbrowns and Grits. The meal was good and the sauce went well with everything, especially the Hash browns. The Brown Sugar is very evident making this sweet smelling sauce taste just as sweet. Peppa Royale does not bring a lot of heat “with just a hint of heat” is almost an understatement. It brings flavor instead- but Vic, “what about the Raisins?” you ask? Yeah they’re in there, they add to the flavor and sweetness, and I still don’t like them! But I like this sauce.

“Hot Sauce, Salsa, BBQ Sauce - If its hot and spicy we’ve got it!!”

Conclusion: Dave’s Pepper Palace has been “Burning Mouths Since 1996″, and because I don’t like one ingredient, it shouldn’t sway you from this award winning sauce. In my opinion Peppa Royale Gourmet Pepper Sauce is a multi use sauce; it would make an outstanding baste or marinade, for any application/recipe calling for a BBQ sauce, and would perfectly stand alone as a dipping sauce. A very tasty, very mild, and all around useful sauce and I am glad I tried it, Raisins or not.

Packaging/Label: 7 out of 10
Aroma: 8 out of 10
Taste: 7 out of 10
Heat: 2 out of 10
Overall: 7 out of 10

Dave’s Pepper Palace
26506 Keith Street
Old Town Spring, TX 77373
281.288.5959 phone
281.288.2559 fax

Pepper= Any of several plants of the genus Piper, as cubeb, betel, and kava. Any of several tropical, American, cultivated forms of Capsicum frutescens or C. annuum, having podlike, many-seeded, variously colored berries.

The podlike fruit of any of these plants, varying in size, shape, and degree of pungency, with the milder types including the bell pepper and pimiento, and the more pungent types including the cherry pepper.

Palace= The official residence of a royal personage. A large, often gaudily ornate building used for entertainment or exhibitions.

Upon entering the gates of the Pepper Palace you quickly realize “We’re not in Kansas anymore Toto” It takes a long thirty seconds or so before your eyes stop scanning as much as they can as fast as they can before your instincts take you directly toward what you love the most- Oh you can try and fool yourself to “Play it Cool”. You know, save the “Best for Last” by going for the OK stuff first, but man the draw of those long walls of Hot Sauce is just to strong. Fight it all you want, but it’s all in vein- it’s like a magnet pulling on you. Soon find yourself side stepping slowly from one end of it to the other talking to yourself, mumbling the names, and laughing at the labels. Yeah people around you may snicker and stare, but a couple of people away there’s a guy or two doing the same thing. Then one of the Pepper Palace folks comes up, offers you a sample of something tasty, and strikes up a conversation about one of the sauces in front of you. That’s about when it hits you, you’re in a quadily ornate place of hot peppered entertainment and spicy food exhibitions surrounded by hot sauce royalty, a little slice of heaven baby!

With humble beginnings in 1987 owners Craig and Tanya Migawa opened “Hots Pepper Pod” in a mall in central Wisconsin, by 1992 this HOT couple opened two additional stores in the same Wisconson region calling them “Pepper Palace”. In 1995 the decision was made to close the Wisconson stores and the Migawa’s and the Pepper Palace headed to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Making a home in the Mountain Mall at traffic light #6 right in the heart of Downtown Gatlinburg and have been making Chiliheads, Gourmets, Pepperheads, BBQ’rs, Hott-a-holics, etc…very very happy ever since.

As I wandered the aisles and peeked in every nook and cranny, I noticed many pictures adorning the walls of said royalty- the Big Leaguers if you will. There is a great one of CaJohn watching in amazement The Flameboyant Chef on fire at a Chili Cook-off last year. The Pepperpalace.com has some great additional pictures as well under “Hot Events”. Also they are “Putting the finishing touches on our Newest Concept” and will have a new website roll out in September to replace the old one so keep your eyes peeled.

Free bottle of Nasal NapalmSpeaking of websites, Craig and his team have offered exclusively to us the HSB, anyone who types in “Hot Sauce Blog” on the “where did you hear about us” section of the web order form will receive a FREE bottle of their newest product “Nasal Napalm” (The Most Powerful Horseradish On The Planet) with an order of $25.00 or more. Nasal Napalm will retail for $9.95 and will become available on 7/20/2006. “I will gladly sign the HSB bottles!”….Craig.

With over 70 FEET of samples, there is so much to choose from someone (like me) could spend hours in there and possibly lapse into an endorphin induced comma, happily and quite contently. The Pepper Palace is self proclaimed to have been built brick by brick on customer service and I saw it first hand. We spoke with both Ronda Vaughan and Patrick Bradford, and both were outstanding in helping us find what we were looking for, fed us sample after sample after sample, and just made us feel welcome and appreciated. It was honestly very nice, they are great/Knowledgeable folks and we are so glad we met them.

Pepper Palace Team
Owners - Craig & Tanya Migawa ( Since the Beginning )
Manager - Tom Curtis ( 8 years )
Asst. Manager - Jeanette Curtis ( 5 years )
Warehouse Supervisor - Patrick Bradford ( 2 years )
Sales Manager - Ronda Vaughan ( 1 year )
Sales People - Elaine, Pete, & Youlanda

Overview:
Just a great time had by all! You can see the intensity in Craig’s eyes when he talks about what he has accomplished and what he does. And I had a chance to see his sadistic side, I got the opportunity to sample the “Nasal Napalm” and my eyes are still watering almost a week later. Craig’s eyes got to just about the size of dessert plates when I took a pretty small spoon full, yes I wimped out, he and Patrick had me so freaked with their continued “it still hurts” and “it’s gonna burn all the way down” jeers I backed off some. Go ahead you can say it- Pansy! Let me tell you, it packs a punch but it’s good stuff and I enjoyed it.

1 Established Hot Sauce Palace + 9 Knowledgeable Friendly Palace Servants + A Flippen’ Buttload of Hot Sauce is ROYALLY PRICELESS!!

Pepper Palace
611 Parkway
Mountain Mall Suite D-10
Gatlinburg, TN 37738
800-684-3358
Fax 856-436-5535
pepperpalace.com

Tucked away under some trees, on the side of what has become a very very busy road here in Orlando is a relatively modest looking building standing alone and actually quite proudly. From the outside it does not give away the surprise it has in store for you when you walk in, but once you cross the threshold “it’s on”. To me it’s always difficult to decide on which direction to go in first, but they say: Leopards can’t change their spots (who are “they” by the way?) and I always head for the Hot Sauces first. With not many totally dedicated Hot Sauce stores in this area, Petty’s is always a good resource for sauces. They carry a pretty wide selection and refresh it with new additions quite often, and best of all the prices are competitive for the market and they run a lot of great sales. (more…)

This is my first review on a store. Reason being is that there have not been any stores in Toronto to review. I heard about Tt4S (Taste the 4^th Sense) a few months ago. The trepidation I had for visiting sooner was the poor excuse I knew of a so called hot sauce store before. I guess I just didn’t want to be disappointed. This review is a culmination of several visits over the period of one week. My first visit was on a weekday evening. I was met with a “back in 5 minutes” letter on the door. The display in the window and the slight view of the hot sauce wall was the only thing that kept me waiting. It actually looked like they had some good products. A few minutes later I was greeted by Geri who let me in. It only took two steps into the store to realize that yes, this is THE PLACE!!! One wall is dedicated to the best of the best of hand pressed oils, vinegars and zests. The adjacent wall adorned with hundred of types of hot sauces. Everywhere else was collectible hot sauces along the shelves.

Now I have seen places in the states that literally carry everything under the sun. Tt4S puts emphasis on taste rather that heat. Don’t get me wrong they have all the super hots, Black Mamba, Z Nothing Beyond, Satan’s Blood, but they carry an absolutely amazing array of medium type sauces in every type of hot genre. Your run of the mill vinegar, pepper, gimmick sauce doesn’t makes its way on the shelf. Too boot every bottle is available to sample. If you are looking for more of the gimmick type sauces you may want to head over to their other store in St. Jacobs.

I was able to meet with the owner Gerry Mischuk and we had a lot to talk about. I couldn’t believe that he hadn’t heard of www.hotsauceblog.com. Needless to say I am sure he has it bookmarked now! Gerry and staff (Geri) were amazing. Not only are they knowledgeable in all the products they have, they are passionate about selling them. The store is beautifully kept with an airy atmosphere of cheer. The type of place you would want to walk in and look around even if you aren’t into hot sauce.

Whether you make it to Toronto, or out into the country in St. Jacobs, make an effort to pay Gerry a visit. I can guarantee you he will hook you up with a sauce that will blow you away. And if isn’t hot sauce you are after then one of the oils, zests, or vinegars he has for sale will surely grab your attention. (Hot sauce makers out there should contact Gerry for his vinegars!!!!!) Did I say that out loud?!

Taste the 4th Sense will be celebrating their first anniversary July 22 this year. It would be great to see some local chili-heads attend the party!

Finally a hot sauce store in Toronto I can be proud to talk about

Taste The 4^th Sense
Locations:
375 Danforth Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
M4K 1P1
416-649-0024
Riverworks Emporium
1440 King Street
St. Jacobs, Ontario
N0B 2N0
www.salivate.ca

Tags: hot sauce

In a small historical town just west of St. Louis, lies an inconspicuous monster in the hot sauce industry. At first glance, it looks like just another antiques store in a long line of shops along this cobble stone street.

But as you step inside, you are immediately greeted with a great coffee gallery and some incredible aromas! We started with a coffee shop about 18 years ago, says owner John Figueroa. It is well stocked from floor to ceiling and nicely arranged by John’s wife, Lisa. After looking at the endless types of coffee you slowly wander into the world of spicy foods. This room was the original hot sauce room until it [the display of hot sauces] got to large. Now it is home to 100’s of BBQ’s, rubs, jerks, etc. If you are looking for a new sauce or rub to kick up your next meal a notch, this is the place to go. (more…)