In "The Hot Sauce Cookbook" (10 Speed Press, $16.99), Robb Walsh writes that, "Whatever caused early man to love them, the chile pepper acquired mystic significance."
Mystic or simply more popular than ketchup, nowadays, Walsh, who is a three-time James Beard award winner and Texas food expert , offers all sorts of sizzling recipes for DIY salsas and pepper sauces — from ancient Zapotec salsa verde to takes on such popular brands as Frank's RedHot and Crystal. But one of the most fascinating topics he covers is fermenting a pepper mash as a base for making Tabasco-style hot pepper sauce at home.
“It seems like a crazy idea,” Walsh said as we compared notes during a recent phone call.“If you ever go on the Tabasco tour in New Iberia and see all those big barrels, it’s kind of intimidating. But it’s actually a whole lot easier than you assume it’s gonna be.
Credit: Yvonne Zusel
Credit: Yvonne Zusel
“I came up with some methods that work pretty well to ferment the peppers. I keep the mash in the refrigerator and make the hot sauce one batch at a time. My wife said to me, “Doesn’t that stuff ever go bad?’ I said, ‘It already went bad. That’s what fermentation is.’ ”
As Walsh preaches, homemade pepper sauce beats commercial sauce because you can use less vinegar and better ingredients, including flavorful sherry and rice vinegars, then dial in your own taste preferences by adding garlic, carrots, spices and other good stuff.
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