God bless Tabasco!

I am a condiment fanatic.  Over the past fifteen years I have collected and tried a HUGE assortment of ketchups, mustards, BBQ sauces, steak sauces, and miscellaneous.  But mostly it's been hot sauces.  There's so many interesting ones out there, and I tend to acquire them at a rate more rapid than I can open and sample them.  Amongst all condiments though, there is still one champion.

I guess a lot of people don't CARE about their condiments as much as I do, but it still surprises me when someone refers to Tabasco as "hot sauce."  Yes it is a hot pepper sauce, but to categorize it as such does not do it justice.  It is truly its own thing.  More like a "hot pepper vinegar" than a hot sauce.  I am not aware of anybody even TRYING to duplicate or imitate it, as happens with generic versions of other condiments.  You'll always see "Brand X Hot Sauce" on supermarket shelves at a cheaper price than the name brands, but I don't recall ever seeing "Brand X Hot Pepper Vinegar."  and I've been pretty thorough!

Failure to recognize this important distinction can be disastrous.  Especially if you are operating a restaurant that serves breakfast.  a lot of them have "hot sauce" only, whereas Tabasco is absolutely ESSENTIAL with eggs.  It's terrible going to a diner where Tabasco is unavailable.  You ask for it and they say "We have Frank's" or offer some other hot sauce as if it's supposed to be the same thing.  It is NOT.

The other obvious case is pizza.  You'll see pizza all the time in the company's marketing, and it's so TRUE.  Pizza is probably the most popular food in the whole world, but Tabasco makes it SO MUCH BETTER.  Anyone that hasn't tried it at least once doesn't know what they're missing.  Absolutely magic combination, like french fries and ketchup.  (and oh, we'll get into THAT later on, for certain.)  and if you're one of those people that doesn't "like" spicy food, well, I don't know what to say to you.  What else don't you like?  Oxygen?  The sun?  Live a little already.

Ideally, I would like to carry Tabasco with me at all times for emergencies where it's necessary but not available.  The company DOES offer a velcro Tabasco "holster," and I own it, but rarely remember to take it with me when on the go.  It's that classic thing, if I take it I wind up not needing it, and then when I DO need it I don't have it.  I've experimented with some homemade keychain devices but there's always "refilling" issues.  So vexing.  Anybody got a better idea?  I'd love to hear it.

That's all for now, more Tabasco thoughts to follow.

Thanks for reading!