TABASCO

Did you know that for the last 150 years Tabasco Sauce has been grown and processed on little Avery Island....not far from Lafayette, LA?   Did you know that Tabasco Sauce is shipped to 175 countries?   Did you know that "tabasco" was a spice exported in the early 1800's from the Tabasco region of Mexico, and that it was from the berry of a myrtle tree found only in that region?  Well,  neither did we.....that is until we visited the Tabasco factory on Avery Island....just 40 miles or so up the road from here in Morgan City.

We took a tour of the factory and visited the Gift Shop where everything says "Tabasco".....and we discovered there are many variations to the original Hot Pepper Sauce.   We tasted raspberry tabasco sauce, a chipotle sauce, a green sauce and wing and buffalo and pepper jelly sauces....to name a few.  The habanero was about the hottest we tried.....whew!   And I must say, the jalapeno ice cream...that's right, jalapeno ice cream....was good enough that I would have it again (Pam shied away from the ice cream so she has to take my word for it!).   

Unfortunately, the day we visited the factory was not in operation.  Having spent many years in factories in my working career I was able to look at the operations sitting idle and "see" how the process worked and how it all came together.  It seems once the capsicum peppers reach just the right ripeness, they are picked by hand and brought to the factory where they are mashed.  Once mashed they are interlaced with salt and placed in oak barrels that are, of all things, obtained from the bourbon processors in Kentucky (the barrels can only be used once for bourbon storage but once cleaned can be used over and over again in the making of Hot Pepper Sauce).  The mash remains in the barrels for three years....and then is blended with a special vinegar and is mixed for another 28 days.  It is at this time the Hot Pepper Sauce has earned the status of the Tabasco label and is bottled in a 2 ounce variety of the famous bottle on the right. 

This "plaque" is in the lobby of the Tabasco factory and shows examples of the oak barrels the mash is stored in for three years.













The Coat of Arms to the right is testament to the fact that Tabasco is a Royal Supplier of its Hot Pepper Sauce to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth.   How about them apples!

This is a very interesting place and we highly recommend a visit if you find yourself in the southern environs of Louisiana.

Our bottle of Tabasco sits right next to Roger Bourgeois' bottle of hot sauce.....Roger is, after all, the Hot Sauce Man of Houma.