Month: May 2010

Here’s another instance of fiery foods invading the mainstream. After noticing the Ghost Chili appearing in FarmVille, my wife also caught another spicy entry in another Facebook game. In Cafe World, one of the available gifts is a bowl of

Here comes Crazy Steve’s Pickles and Salsa, a young New Jersey company hatched at 11:49 am on July 17, 2009 (as each and every label clearly states!) after an extraordinarily fruitful harvest from a cucumber garden. Steve Zielinski borrowed treasured pickling recipes from his grandmother, branched off into making salsas, and only 10 months later has an extensive live of side-items and condiments.

Steve was gracious enough to send me four different products of his for me to test drive. I have to mention that while all of the salsas I reviewed are marked “insane”, a fourth heat level above mild, medium and hot, I though none of these contained extraordinary heat (I explain more below). I don’t know if this was a label mix-up or if the “insane” salsas are legitimately that mild, but if the later were true then even non-spice fans could handle these salsas with very little difficulty.

Lastly, I’d like to add that earlier today one of my co-horts in heat, Buddah of ILoveItSpicy.com, posted a multi-person video review of two Crazy Steve’s products done at the recent Peppers at the Beach in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. This is mere coincidence. Even though Buddah and I talk with each other several times a week, neither of knew of the other’s plans to post a Crazy Steve-related review. So I guess today is Steve’s lucky day! Seriously, here is my take on Cajun Cukes, Black Bean & Corn Salsa, Raspberry Mango Salsa, and Smokey Mesquite Salsa…

This snack has been heavily lauded by chilehead bloggers, mostly since the 2010 Fiery Foods Show transpired a few months ago, as one of the best new spicy snacks they’ve had the pleasure of chomping down on. I also sampled it at the FFS, made my opinion known that I liked it, and purchased a few bags from Ranch Camp Chip Company owner Doehne Duckworth for home consumption. I had already given his Deano’s Jalapeno Chips a notch in the positive column, but do I think it lives up to the immense hype bestowed upon it by my pepperhead brethren?

I would have to give an incontestable “yes”. Believe the hype, folks. Deano’s Jalapeno’s are insanely delicious and are sure to rapidly become a favorite among those who crave heat and cheddar cheese flavor in their snacks. I’m also predicting that in another five years, Deano’s will become a giant in the specialty food world or the concept and recipe will have been sold to a larger chip manufacturer to make its creator make mucho deniro off of this stuff. It’s that good…