Creative cooking with Tabasco

Creative cooking with Tabasco. This is the most famous and used pepper sauce in the world and in 185 countries. What is special! The Tabasco is also known in the Netherlands and there are 6 varieties available. You can use Tabasco as a topping, but you can also cook with it. Continue reading my story.

Creative cooking with Tabasco

Background

The American Tabasco pepper sauce has existed since 1868. In the same year it was marketed by Mcllhenny company. However, the pepper sauce contains three ingredients: vinegar, peppers and salt. How is Tabasco prepared?

Classic production method

When the sun-ripe peppers have the perfect deep red color, they are then picked manually. The peppers are crushed and mixed with Avery Island salt in the factory. The mixture must mature in oak barrels for 3 years. After the maturation process, the mixture is checked by the family. Finally, the mixture is mixed with distilled vinegar. The exact Tabasco recipe is, of course, well-kept family secret for more than 150 years.

The name Tabasco is patented. This can be traced back to the Tabasco province in Mexico, where the pepper variety of the same name (tabasco) comes from. From 1993 to the present, the Tabasco range has been expanded with a number of variants that differ in spiciness and flavors. I have seen and tasted a number of them during the Tabasco event.

The Tabasco event Smokey Goodness

A few weeks ago the Tabasco event Smokey Goodness took place in Delft. The owner of Smokey Goodness is the famous barbecue chef Jord Althuizen. He has several successful barbecue books to his name. I was first welcomed with a cocktail in which you could subtly taste the tabasco. The bottles of Tabasco variants were placed everywhere in the large room. In the meantime, the Tabasco press lunch was prepared by him and his team. We were the first to be given a tour by Tabasco ambassador Jord Althuizen who told something about each of the Tabasco types and so we were able to taste it.

Tabasco types

However, Tabasco has a wide range with different degrees of spiciness and flavors. There are 6 types of Tabasco available in the Netherlands. Original red sauce is often used as a topping but also as a marinade in meat and fish dishes. The milder green Jalapeño sauce is ideal as a dip and delicious with Mexican dishes. Chipotle sauce has a moderate spicy smoked taste and is perfect for barbecue dishes such as hamburgers, hot dogs etc. The fruity hot Habanero sauce is delicious with sweet dishes. The extremely spicy Tabasco Scorpion is way too hot for me. If you use this and you find it too hot. Then I have a tip for you and that is eat bread or toast instead of water. That actually helps much better against the burning sensation. The newest Tabasco type is Sirachia sauce, which is delicious with Asian dishes but also with meat dishes.

As you can read, Tabasco clearly gives spice and taste to every conceivable dish. And during Tabasco snacks and lunch I also experienced that.

Tabasco bites and lunch

First snacks consisted of couscous with feta, lime and green tabasco. This was followed by a grilled oyster with tabasco dressing and red onions and bruschetta with hummus, zucchini and berries, gazpacho and tartar snack. After the snacks we sat down at the long set table where the Tabasco lunch followed. As a starter we got tacos with fried chicken and falafel with salsa. These were placed on a type of wood. Because it was crooked, my tacos fell off. Fortunately I got new tacos again.

The side dish was the baked salmon from the barbecue. The salmon was delicious except the rice then. This was not done and even Jord Althuizen had to agree. As a main course I got a tasty steak. Then an eye-catching dessert that made me very happy. It consisted of a spicy ice cream with a hint of Habanero Tabasco sauce, with merengue and marinated mango. You had to take this as 1 snack so that you can experience this as a true taste explosion.

Looking back

It was very positive for me as this was my first experience with Tabasco types in cocktail, snacks, dishes and dessert. I am also happy with the products in the goodie bag that I can use very well when cooking. The event did provide me with inspiration ideas to cook creatively with Tabasco. I had not previously thought that it was possible.

I want to thank Tabasco, Smokey Goodness and Jord Althuizen and Colette from CK Media promotions for being present at the event.