Re: Fw: [CH] Chile fermentation?

xtremely.fast (xtremely.fast@prodigy.net)
Thu, 21 Nov 2002 01:48:56 -0800 

I just toured the Tabasco plant at Avery Island a few months back and it was
a pretty interesting trip.  Anyone traveling through south Louisiana should
be sure to take time to see this.  A complete and detailed recipe may be had
at the Tobasco web site [www.tobasco.com, i think] but the production of
Tobasco sauce is fairly basic.  Mix peppers with salt [lots] and vineagar,
put in white oak casks that have lids with small holes in them.  Put several
shovel fulls of salt on the lid and let the whole thing sit for two and a
half years.  The fermentation of the peppers causes some gas which escapes
through the holes in the top of the casks and through the salt.  By the end
of the cureing time the salt is as hard as a concrete slab.  The peppers are
then cooked, strained and bottled.  The pepper mash is then sold to various
places but one use is to put the sting in Ben-Gay and Deep Heat rub.  The
Avery Island plant bottles 250,000 bottles of Tobasco a day and the labels
are printed in 23 different languages.  I never knew it before I went there
but beside the Tobasco, Tobasco green, Tobasco Jalapeno, and Tobasco
Habenaro sauces they offer a viretey of other products as well.  Lots of
nifty things at the gift shop but its a tad on the pricey side.  Five pound
sacks of the spent pepper mash are also for sale here.

There were no tours for the pepper fields availiable when I was there so we
only go to see a few sample plants growing.  Most of the peppers used in
Tobasco production are actually raised in other places now anyhow.

They have their own salt mine on Avery Island and there are several more in
the surrounding areas.  I am not sure if the Avery Island salt is any
different for any other salt or not. No mention was made of this.

I just made a Tobasco clone last week and it turned out very well.  I took a
blender full of red jalapenos and pureed them.  added some salt [lots], and
some vinegar and water and boiled the whole mess for about thirty minutes.
Strained it through a sive and put it in a designer bottle.  The taste and
color both turned out wonderfull.  Not to salty but the heat could have been
a little more intense.  Next time I'll ad a hab or two.
Hint:  When cooking the peppers in the vinegar/water mix be sure and use
more than 50% vinegar. [or so I have been told]

I took the cooked pepper mash that wouldn't go through the sive and mixed it
with a couple of cloves of pureed garlic, a few chipped onions and a can of
whole tomatoes chopped up and made a pretty fine salsa that went very well
my my scrambled eggs the next morning. Ahhhhhhhhh, life is good.

Eddie Thompson
retired on the gulf coast
Baytown, Texas


Subject: Re: Fw: [CH] Chile fermentation?


> These are the points that I would like to know about. I do have 3 or 4
years
> and some new oak barrels. 50 gallon. So I'm keen to try and make some.
> Nothing against Jims sauces in the slightest but I like to have a go. I am
> also wanting to  make dipping sauces as well. All this is in a couple of
> months when the mangoes and chillies are ready.
> What is this about the Avery Island Salt.
>
> Marc in Austruckinfalia.
>
> Hey Marc...if you have 3 or 4 years at your disposal, prior to even
>  TASTING your efforts, and if you can get some salt from Avery Island,
>  which is seemingly, unique in it's fermenting properties, then by all
>  means go for it! Good luck. But, that said, there are all sorts of much
>  better sauces, with less vinegar, than the one you mentioned. Try one of
> Jim's hot sauces, for example: http://www.wildpepper.com  Tell Jim, Doug
>  sent ya! :-)) Cheers, Doug in BC
>
>
>
>