Re: [CH] Tabasco and its nasty

Bradley F. Maurer (gregor.nyc@earthlink.net)
Wed, 7 Dec 2005 23:10:24 -0500 (GMT-05:00) 

Peter,
  Put a couple of splashes of Tabasco in your next bloody mary and please don't take such personal offense at my last post to this list!

First, the following are not my words...

>Who gives two hoots about Tabasco and its nasty sour fermented crap, anyway?

  I simply agreed with the poster that tabasco isn't the best tasting "louisiana" hot sauce on the market.  Personally, I prefer the flavor of cayennes over that of tabascos--that is my personal preference.  
  Now let me respond to the rest of your post...

>i do ,and so do Millions of folks worldwide .

  As the ancient Elvis Presley record was titled, "A Million People Can't be Wrong" and I can't disagree.  Some people really enjoy the taste of tabasco sauce and it brings back WARM and fuzzy memories of their childhood.  I'm not one of them.  I didn't really care for it then, and, while my taste for peppers has since evolved, my love for tobasco sauce has not.

>for some reason, many CH listers seem to hold a condescending attitude about
>Tabasco hot sauce.  as if it's somehow beneath us -- somewhat 
>contemptible ??

  I suppose that the members of this list are somewhat elite in their "aji palate" from time to time, and to an extent so am I, I can't criticize you or anyone else for enjoying any pepper.  To each their own!

>Tabasco fermented pepper sauce may seem to be everywhere ... that's because it's a
>popular brand. it's certainly not the Only one on any given grocery shelf; you could check.
>there are lotsa brands offered for sale, including McIlhenney's

  I am well aware of this--especially everytime that I find myself in a chain grocery store (which is rare for me given that I live in Queens, NYC).  I tend to buy my sauces either in ethnic groceries or the plethora of "dollar stores" that are on every corner here.  I'm hardly a "pepper-snob".  I've never bought a "designer" sauce in my lfe!  I'm still wading through the bounty of traditional sauces that I come across here and across the river in New Jersey.  So many peppers, so little time--and of course, I have limited shelf space in my tiny Astoria 'fridge.

>This condiment has "been there" for hot sauce aficionandos for over 100 years.

  "Aficiondos"? Bad word choice! Consumers, would be more precise. Apart from a handful of generic regional cayenne sauces, Tabasco was the only mass-produced and mass-marketed "Louisiana" hot sauce for genrations! The term Tabasco sauce is synonymous with any vinegar-based aji sauce in the US.

>and it has often been The influencing intro into the wide wild world of chiles for many
>people.  perhaps even some CH listers ! 

  I'll grant you this point, because it is for the most part true....

>when i buy a bottle of Tabasco, i don't expect it to taste like blended 
>peppers with salt & vinegar.  (although i like that too!)

  What do you expect it to taste like? Lemon Jello?  The sauce tastes exactly of salt, vinegar, and fermented peppers--that's what it is!  When I buy tuong ot toi (vietnamese chile garlic sauce), I expect it to taste like chiles and garlic.  There's nothing wrong with that....

>Tabasco is an original, unique, quality, Fermented chile product, that 
>satisfies the"hot-sauce desire" for many people.  

  This is true...

>it ain't pepper soup.

  Who said it was?

>don't like it ?  ... hey, buy something else.

  I always do, but please don't take it personally!