FireTalkers: Interview with Clement Bourg of Cajun Heat
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Cajun Heat's Clement Bourg, by way of Virgina, has concocted some stunning sauce and seasoning in Liquid Napalm and Voodoo Ash, respectively, that I reviewed not too long ago. I wasn't the only one enthralled by their unique tastes; they've also earned multiple 1st and 2nd place Scovie and TheHotPepper Awards.
Before I get to the interview, I want to quickly say that for a limited time, both of Cajun Heat's fiery products are at a special sale price in their online store - $3.75 each for either a bottle of Liquid Napalm hot sauce or Voodoo Ash dry spice. That's a steal! And now, here is Clement...
Scott: What are your ties to New Orleans and how did you get into making hot sauces?
Clement: I grew up in the New Orleans area. I lived in parts of Kenner, Metairie, and the Gentilly area of New Orleans. My family still resides in Southern Louisiana.
After living away from New Orleans for many years, I grew tired of missing the food I love. I started with a bottle of vinegar and tried adding Old Bay and Zatarain's, in an attempt to capture that boiled seafood flavor. Everything I came up with was a bust, so I decided to try making my own from scratch.
Scott: How long did it take you to develop the recipes for the Liquid Napalm Hot Sauce and Voodoo Ash Seasoning? Do the current formulas resemble your first recipes at all?
Clement: Creating the flavor of Liquid Napalm didn't take long at all, maybe a few months or 20 bottles or so. The hard part was actually documenting a recipe, scaling it down to make one bottle. I had the flavor that I wanted but it created, maybe 5 1/2 bottles so I had to trim it while keeping the integrity of the sauce.
Voodoo Ash was a mistake. I had a Cajun blend of spices that I used to first create Liquid Napalm. The problem with the first few bottles was that it was too salty. My fix was to eliminate the salt from the spice blend which left me with over 5 pounds of Cajun spice. I bought a couple of 1 oz. containers and gave them away to the guys at work. Within weeks, people were asking for more. Initially I tried to get them to use the sauce, but in the end they won and thus, Voodoo Ash.
Scott: Describe a typical day for you.
Clement: A typical day for me is quite boring. Cajun Heat is still somewhat of a hobby so I have a full time job as an Air Traffic Controller. This requires shift work so each day in itself is different but the routine is quite similar. Each day consists of an hour-long commute to and from work, routine house chores, and redesigning my front and back yard. This year I concentrated on the front and will attempt a complete overall of the backyard which includes killing off all vegetation and seeding Irish Moss instead of grass. I have three rather large dogs and am trying anything and everything to find some type of vegetation that take the constant pounds they deliver.
I'm currently bottling my own sauce and spice and try to do this on my days off. Until recently I was using a ladle and funnel to bottle the sauce, but thanks to a new machine I can bottle five times as much as before in less then a quarter of the time. I'm still new to the business so I spend my breaks at work studying various marketing ideas, looking for co packers, distributors, wholesalers, etcetra.
Scott: Do you have any plans for new Cajun Heat products in the near future?
Clement: Yes! My intentions are to have a full line of Cajun Heat products to include a mild sauce, mustard, ketchup, BBQ sauce, a seafood boil, wing sauce, and a salsa. I already have a few of these ready for production but am waiting on the funds to design the labels.
Scott: Where do you see yourself 5 or 10 years from now?
Clement: I see myself doing what I do now, controlling aircraft full-time with a side business. I do not see myself manufacturing anything I sell, at least I hope not. I hope to find a co-packer soon, to allow for more time marketing my product. I definitely love to be in the kitchen and see myself returning to manufacturing my own products but the small goal is to create demand and the demand I want, I cannot supply at this time.
Scott: What's the biggest challenge or hurdle you've had to face thus far in your sauce making experiences?
Clement: To date, the biggest problem has been production. Until recently all of my bottling has been with a ladle and a funnel, one bottle at a time. This restricted the batch size to just two cases of sauce at a time.
I've been through five co-packers, none of which were ever able to produce a single drop of sauce. Somewhere along the way, promises were broken and I was on my own again.
I searched all ends of the internet trying to find something, anything that could make the bottling easier. Unfortunately, there just wasn't anything affordable for me. One day in my search a new website appeared where the owner was producing a hand pump system for filling bottles with lotion. Bob, at www.handyfiller.com didn't have anything readily available but was working on a food grade system. After a couple of months of research and development, he had a filler that allowed me to bottle 10 cases of sauce at a time.
My next hurdle is marketing and distribution. I have a good product; I'm just not much of a salesman.
Scott: What would be a good example of a dish or food item that your products would go well on that's not Cajun or Creole by definition?
Clement: Hmmm...the one thing that jumps out at me, pertaining to the Liquid Napalm, is a spinach and artichoke dip. This is one of my favorite appetizers when I'm out having dinner and adding a few drops of Liquid Napalm kicks it up tremendously.
Voodoo Ash is a different story. An easier question would be, what doesn't it go well on. That would be Coco Puffs, waffles, and maybe some types of dessert. I put it on EVERYTHING! My friends do as well. One guy I work with even puts it on apples and another mixes it in with his spaghetti.
I use Voodoo Ash on pork, beef, chicken, eggs, French fries, pizza, salad, pickles, add it to dips, grilled veggies, deli sandwiches, pasta, etc.
Scott: What is your favorite sauce that you don't produce yourself?
Clement: Don't tell anyone, but I love DEFCON's sauce. What an outstanding wing sauce! I can only hope my, soon-to-be, wing sauce can compete.
Scott: How often do you eat your own products?
Clement: Everyday! I either use the spice, the sauce, or both. Very rarely will dinner at my house not include Voodoo Ash on at least one dish.
Scott: What's the average level of heat that you personally eat with your food?
Clement: This is tricky. What I consider hot, like most other chileheads, others would find ridiculous. Let's just say that I can snack on a habanero. I don't mind sweating a bit, but I'm certainly not going to cry over any meal.
Scott: What is the oddest thing you put hot sauce on that you eat regularly?
Clement: I wouldn't say I eat anything odd. I eat red meat such as beef, lamb, goat regularly and use both the sauce and spice. Have pickles become odd?
Scott: What's the strangest use of one of your products that you've ever heard of?
Clement: Well, no one has said they use either as a deer deterrent, but I've used Voodoo Ash for riot control when the dogs get out of hand. Bear spray my ass, just carry some Voodoo Ash in the woods with ya!
Scott: What's the hottest thing you've ever eaten?
Clement: The hottest thing I've eaten would have to be extract.
The hottest thing I've eaten and actually enjoyed would be my jambalaya. The recipe on my website calls for a ¼ cup for a 9qt yield. I personally like a full cup of even 1 1/4 cups with a little Liquid Napalm mixed in afterwards.
Scott: How much sauce and seasoning do you produce in a week/month?
Clement: Not as much as I'd like. I'm behind the power curve when it comes to promoting my products. A ten case batch will last me a few months.
Scott: What do you think sets you apart from other spicy food producers that are currently in the market?
Clement: I believe there are two ends to this market. On one end you have business owners such as myself who create the recipes themselves, do this (selling their products) because they enjoy it. On the other end you have large manufactures such as Tabasco that lack the passion of the small business owner banking on marketing to sell their product rather then the products selling themselves.
Scott: Do you try to stay up-to-date with goings-on in the spicy food industry? If so, what are some of your info sources?
Clement: There is only so much time in the day. The one site I try to visit daily is www.TheHotPepper.com. There are many other good sites out there, but TheHotPepper.com just seems to have more traffic and participation from other business owners like myself.
Scott: What do you think of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace? Which of these have you used and do you feel they have helped raise awareness of your brand more?
Clement: I have a Facebook account but not because I really wanted one. It was suggested by a friend who has some marketing skills and favors social networking sites. I haven't seen any gains from the account and feel as if it can be more of a burden on the consumer if I were to continuously update my "status.""
Scott: You've been vocal about having mixed feelings about the recent Weekend of Fire show. Other than the economy improving, do you think anything can be done to improve the show (or all hot sauce shows and festivals in general) overall?
Clement: I had mixed feelings concerning the Weekend Of Fire because this was my first trade show as a vendor. I think, I know my expectations were high. I arrived feeling very unprepared and was concerned about running out of items to sell. I left with more then ¾ of what I brought.
As a vendor, I don't have any other shows to compare the WOF to. I'm sure the economy had a play in the sales, but other vendors who participated before said what we experienced was comparable to previous shows.
I don't know how Jungle Jim's could improve on the show. I couldn't expect anything more from a host. All of my needs were attended to, and the staff was very gracious. I enjoyed the weekend tremendously and plan on attending again next year.
Scott: What's the most asked question you get from people?
Clement: Is it hot? People see the artwork on my labels and expect to walk away feeling the way my character looks. Truth be told, if you think Tabasco is hot, you will. If you're a true chilehead you may even think my label is deceptive. Most people are content with heat level, not too much...just enough.
Scott: If you could ask one questions to your sauce fans or chileheads in general, what would it be?
Clement: Hmm... Why?!? Why do we like it so hot? Some are worse then me. I don't mind a good sweat, but some will eat a sauce that makes them cry and then go back for more. WHY?!?
Scott: Outside of making spicy products, what do you do in your spare time?
Clement: Spare time? Are you kidding me? I guess I spend me "off" time renovating my yard, playing with my dogs, "dating" my girlfriend, and watching football. And do not call me on Sunday during the Saints game!
Liquid Napalm Hot Sauce and Voodoo Ash Seasoning Review
Official Cajun Heat Website
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2009-09-11 08:24:03
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