I first wrote about our fascination with home crafted hot sauces on ChiWulff (a fly fishing blog) a few years back –
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 (my son) 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.
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. (Try a simple green sauce with jalapenos alone or throw a poblano in to deepen the flavor a bit…)
Here’s a fairly basic recipe using friendly Fresno chiles to get you started…
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)
Wash and stem the chiles then combine in a food processor with the salt. Pulse until a coarse puree forms; scrape the sides as needed.
Now pour the pepper mash into a one quart lidded jar (your run of the mill caning jar is just perfect) and let the mash ferment at a cool room temperature for up to 36 hours. You’re really not actually fermenting the mash here, you’re just aging it a bit and giving the salt time to start extracting the flavors from the chile puree.
Pour in the vinegar, stir to combine well, then loosen the lid and back on the counter it goes, at a cool room temperature, for another 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.
Finally, pour the vinegar mash into your trusty blender (or back into the food processor) and puree until very smooth (be patient, this will take at least a minute). Strain through a fine mesh sieve; again this will take a bit of time. We always end up fiddling with the mash in the sieve, scraping it, squishing it and doodling until every possible drop of goodness has dripped through.
Now you’re ready to pour your creation into a bottle (or two), cap it and cool in the fridge. Our hot sauce mentor who taught us insists its good for four months though it never lasts that long.
Enjoy.
