Trail Blog

August 22, 2011

Like a Local » Bringing the Heat

To folks outside Louisiana, Cajun food has a reputation of being a little too hot to handle. Our food is highly seasoned, flavored with onions, celery, bell pepper, and herbs, though it doesn’t always bring the heat. But when we like to add a little sizzle, we reach for a bottle of homegrown hot sauce. We love to add a dash to everything from our morning eggs to our lunch peas and our supper oysters. 

Every local has their favorite sauce, but three of the most popular are Tabasco, Crystal Hot Sauce, and Original Louisiana Hot Sauce. The McIlhenny family created Tabasco in the 1860s when they planted their Capsicum frutescens peppers on Avery Island. Today, you can tour their plant and watch the sauces being made (http://www.tabasco.com/). Crystal Hot Sauce was founded in New Orleans in 1923 and is made with aged red cayenne peppers (http://crystalhotsauce.com/). Louisiana Hot Sauce also ages their cayenne peppers, and has just the right mix of vinegar and salt (http://www.louisianapepper.com).