Debunking Beer Can Chicken: A Waste Of Good Beer, And Dangerous
Famous Death Row Last Meals
Photo: add1sun, Flickr
Ketchup may still be king of the condiments, but these days, hot sauce is what's really hot. According to a report by market-research firm Mintel International, sales of ethnic condiments in the U.S. had been chugging along since 2005, but beginning in 2008, when the recession hit and folks started eating at home more, they've been hot as a habanero, increasing 4.8 percent in 2009, with $1.3 billion in sales. Mexican condiments are leading the way in this salsa-powered surge.
That's no surprise to Gloria Cabada-Leman, owner with her husband of the Carolina Sauce Company, in Durham, N.C. Started in 2003, Carolina Sauce is an Internet food retailer specializing in condiments and sauces. She said hot and spicy is a predominant theme these days even in places like New England and the Midwest -- normally bastions of hot-pepper wimipiness.
The most recent trend, Cabada-Leman said, is adding jalapeños (the gateway pepper, she called them) or even habaneros to items that normally don't have them – like ketchup. "In just the past 12 months or so, it has had the greatest increase in sales," she said. "Customers trying it and then coming back as repeat customers." Cabada-Leman sees two reasons for the trend. One -- let's call it food-TV syndrome. "I think people have become exposed to different cuisines and ways of cooking that they want to try at home," she said.
The other is a function of the general increase in the Latino population in the U.S. "Regardless how one may feel politically," said Cabada-Leman, who is of Cuban descent, "one benefit is that previously hard-to-find ingredients are now more available."
And you can thank Goya, the granddaddy of Latino food companies, for much of that. Goya has 1,600 products rooted in Hispanic food cultures, about 120 of them are condiments and seasonings. Sales are up, said Olga Luz, a representative for Goya. Same reasons: the economy combined with food TV.
"We are seeing a lot of non-Latinos who have a curiosity for the flavors," Luz said. "People are willing to experiment. 'What would happen if I put a little adobo on this chicken?'"
It all works for Jesus Puerto. Of Cuban descent, he and his brother Robert started two Soul de Cuba restaurants -- the first in New Haven, Connecticut, in 2005, and the second a year and a half later in Honolulu. Both specialize in the authentic Cuban dishes their grandmother and other family members made when the brothers were growing up in Florida.
Three years ago, Puerto added a Soul de Cuba product line that now includes the classic mojo his grandmother made -- a honey-sweetened version, a habanero-spiked version and there's a chipotle on the way. The Soul de Cuba line also includes his grandmother's vinaigrette, a mojito variation and a couple of mango salsas -- all available in a variety of stores nationwide, including Whole Foods, Wegman's and Winn-Dixie.
"It wasn't me; it was customers who were demanding it," Puerto said. "Americans want the authenticity we offer."
That's An Interesting Look, Madge
The List #0147: Escape a Car Underwater
Charlie Sheen Gets Back To His Roots
Visit the Maldive Islands Before It's Too Late
Reptiles Make Home in UK Man's Cable Box
16 Pasta Dishes Worse Than Yours
Springtime Budget-Busters -- Savings Experiment
Distraught Mom Becomes Face of Oklahoma Storm
WHOOPS! Obama Makes Big Gaffe
Is This Woman Too Pretty To Work?
Mariah Carey Suffers Wardrobe Malfunction on Good Morning America
Candid Portraits Of Strippers After Hours
The Story Behind Hairspray
Amanda Bynes Arrested, Undergoes Psychiatric Evaluation--See the Shocking Mugshot!
Mariah Carey Curses And Busts Out Of Dress On Live TV
Carrie Underwood Donates $1 Million to Oklahoma Tornado Victims
Ryan Gosling Almost Didn't Star In His Signature Movie
Teens' Plot To Murder Classmate Shocks Town
AMAZING PHOTO: UFO Spotted Over San Diego
Killed Soldier In London Attack Identified
Abercrombie Announces Plummeting Sales Amid Controversy
What It's Like To Talk To A 2-Year-Old
Luke Wilson Caught Staring At Fan's Chest
Rapper Accused Of Faking His Own Death To Escape Payments
Danny Tanner Is Fighting With Topanga
New Trayvon Martin Evidence Features Incriminating Photos, Texts From Teen
Best Friends Reportedly Die Holding Each Other In Tornado
Jury Foreman: '18 Days Of Testimony Hurt' Jodi Arias
Teenager's 'Awww'-Inspiring Drawing Wins Big At Google
Brave Woman Stood Down Armed London Attackers
Jodi Arias Jury DEADLOCKED
Mum-Of-Two Faces Down Woolwich Attack Suspects
11-12-2010 @4:01PM Chris said... How about "Just Say PICANTE" CALIENTE refers to temperature not spice. Picante refers to the spice level measured in skovilles. Also, Cuban foods and Puerto Rican foods are spiced, not spicy. Mexican, Central American and some South American foods feature spicy foods based on Chiles, not herbs like Cuban and Puerto Rican foods.
Reply
11-13-2010 @2:07PM glenn said... YUCK ! ! ! !
Reply
11-13-2010 @3:13PM Todd said... There's an important distinction between "hot" and "hot and tasty." Take Dave's Insanity Sauce; one sample and I couldn't taste a thing, only intense fire in the back of my mouth, watering eyes and ringing in my ears. Fun, but I have no idea what it tasted like. But I've had fantastic habeñero chicken wings that were very hot, but tasted so good I couldn't stop.
Reply
11-13-2010 @3:43PM PTMR said... Frank's hot sauce does it at my house. So tasty, my grown children add it to eggs, etc. I'm not a hot food guy, but I have tried it and it tastes like the best Buffalo Wings I've ever had. I'm noting it because it's not on your list. I also agree with the several respondents who clearly see a difference between tasty and just plain hot. While some items peak on the Scoville scale, a measure of hotness, others peak on the tasty scale. Me, I'll take the latter every time.
Stay cool!
Reply
11-13-2010 @4:25PM Doug said... cholula is the best!
Reply
11-13-2010 @4:52PM laura said... Texas Pete can't be beat-- on eggs, burgers, wings, tacos, almost anything edible.
Reply
11-16-2010 @5:58PM Eddy Sosa said... Why write somemthing that makes no sense in Spanish ? Hot Sauce is not '' CALIENTE'' ..
Its ''''''PICANTE'''.. .. ''CALIENTE'' it 's only for '''BODY TEMPERATURE'' ( Or being Horny .... )
''Picante'' is what you are trying to say... NOT ''CALIENTE'' all these years of Hispanism and Spanish language,, and people still write wrong things .. If you are going to write an article on 'PICANTE SAUCE'' ,pls learn a little Spanish first .If you ask a Spanish speaker waiter for ''Salsa Caliente he might just bring you a Sauce high in Temperature not a ''PICANTE SAUCE''
Reply
11-13-2010 @5:41PM Hattie Crabtree said... People think Texas Pete hot sauce is from Texas,its not.Its from Winston-Salem,NC ( home to KK donuts ).
Reply
11-13-2010 @10:27PM laura said... My son goes to school in Winston, that's where I first had Texas Pete. The story was that when they were naming it they thought Texas would be more credible than North Carolina for hot sauce. I've tried tons, but I still think Pete's the best.
11-13-2010 @6:53PM Taterbug said... I think this article is a bunch of crap. I cant go to the garden now,because its a seasonal thang,but If you grow hot peppers,you can put them in a big ol jar and bring some vineger to a boil,pour it in the jar of peppers and you have pickled peppers like Peter Piper never picked. They will set u on fire @ every meal.
Reply