Don’t forget Crystal. Seems everyone I know prefers it to Tabasco, though I prefer the bit of funk Tabasco has. That said, I do like Crystal’s extra hot (which is still not all that hot in the hot sauce universe.) Louisiana-brand hot sauce is quite good, and a bit milder than these.
I enjoy spicy food more than the rest of my family, so I put it out when I’m serving salsa, chili, etc. so I can add a little extra zing to my portion.
I also shake it directly on spare ribs, barbecue, and mix it into my “oyster dope” when I’m in New Orleans or anywhere raw oysters are cheap enough to allow the luxury of “oyster dope.”
I prefer Tabasco over Crystal, too. I’ll have to try Louisiana…sometimes I want more oomph than Frank’s but less than Tabasco.
They’re the same heat level. (Both 450 Scoville.) I use Franks for Buffalo wings, but Louisiana as a table sauce.
Tabasco is a unique sauce with a pleasant musty fermented flavor. It’s very good but only in a narrow range of foods. I mostly crave it on hashbrowns/fried eggs/diner skillet-type breakfast dishes. I wouldn’t put it on, say, pizza or chicken wings, like I would a lot of other hot sauces.
Crystal is, to me, generic and interchangeable with other cayenne Louisiana sauces like Franks, Louisiana, Pete’s, the Goya equivalent, these widely available plastic squeeze bottles grocery sauces. I’d use this class of sauces on a very wide range of foods.
I disagree. Some hot sauces are interchangeable but Tabasco, in small doses, can really bring certain flavors out, rather than just adding heat.
Louisiana-style hot sauce is made of red peppers, salt, and vinegar. No garlic, no ‘spices’. Louisiana-style hot sauces go well with American food such as eggs, hashbrowns, fried oysters, fried shrimp, etc. (Can you really have an oyster or shrimp po’boy without Tabasco?)
FWIW, I find Crystal to be milder than Tabasco.
Red and jalapeño Tabascos go fine on omelets, taters, some burgers. Crystal? Meh. If there’s nothing else, then OK. But I just discovered a marvel from Gilroy California, garlic capitol of the universe, and it’s not over-garlicky. The Pepper Plant, original California style hot pepper sauce; shake well. BlossomValleyFoods.Com - to me it’s not hot-hot, but more like liquid black pepper. Very popular on the Central Coast. Jazzes up a po’boy, you betcha!
See, I’d put it on all those. Tabasco on pizza is my first food memory of Tabasco, so perhaps that’s why I associate it so closely with that. (Now, it wasn’t a pleasant food memory. I was about 7 or so at the time and had no experience whatsoever with hot sauces, so I was in for a surprise. Why that didn’t put me off Tabasco, I don’t know, but I can down shots of that stuff now.)
For wings, I do a mix of Frank’s and Tabasco if I’m doing Buffalo style (plus I have a few personal ingredients to doctor up my wing sauce–my standard additions are a bit of yellow mustard and some garlic, and a little bit of something sweet like honey to take a bit of the vinegary edge of everything off. Not enough to identify the flavor, though.) If I’m just getting breaded fried wings, then Tabasco is my first choice there, though I’ll take any Louisiana style hot sauce. Back in college I was so addicted to the stuff that I even put it on my salad. I love that fermented, slightly boozy taste it has.
I use Tabasco a lot, and it goes especially well with pasta dishes with a base of tomato sauce like Spaghetti Neapolitan or Bolognese or similar.
ETA: I think every Italian mama would kill me for that advice, but I like it. I also put grated Gouda on my pasta because I can’t stand the stink of Parmesan.
:eek:
Why the outrage :D? Spicy tomato sauce is fine.
The :eek: is equally for the use of Gouda. I hope it’s aged at least! (That would actually make a fine parmesan substitute, IMHO.)
To be honest, mostly it’s young Gouda. But I agree that aged Gouda is better for that purpose.
Woah! I’ve lived here damn near half a century, and I never knew Texas Pete was an NC brand. That helps explain something, because Texas Pete is some bullshit, and I’ve often wondered why so many restaurants will have that as their only hot sauce. Knowing it’s a local product helps me understand, even if I still don’t like it at all.
If I want a local brand, I’ll go for Firewalker Hot Sauce, much fruitier and less vinegary/fermented than Tabasco, but still really good. Doesn’t work with ketchup, though.
Red beans and rice. Red beans and rice. Par Dieu, red beans and rice!
The Mrs. actually did use my 5 year old gouda from the Netherlands in the cheese weasel just two weeks ago, to use on our spaghetti, mistaking it for our reggiano parmesan. I didn’t realize it at first, but did recognize that it was quite tasty. I still prefer to savor the aged gouda on its own, however.
Cholula works nicely for me on my enchiladas.
OH, yeah. (Drool)
Agreed. I tend to use Latin hot sauces like Cholula and Valentina on Latin food.