Review - Hudd's Fury Sweet Onion and Garlic Hot Sauce
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Most everyone in the online chilehead community knows David "Hudd" Huddleston. In addition to being everything from a fiery foods reviewer to a wing-eating champ, Hudd is also one of the coolest, most genuine and likable people ever to take a bite of spicy cuisine. He, like many of us, has played around with his making hot sauces for a few years now and has dubbed the results of his saucy experiments as "Hudd's Fury". After hearing some conversation about the concoction and finally seeing it reviewed on camera by Xero, Jr. on I Love It Spicy, I knew I had to get a bottle to sample. Hudd graciously supplied some of his Fury sauce for myself and many of the bloggers at last month's Weekend of Fire show, so the following are my opinions of it.
Ingredients:
Tomato Sauce, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, habaneros, sweet onions, garlic, sea salt, and ground black pepper
Aroma:
3 out of 5. The smell similar to the sauce contained within canned pasta offerings, a la Chef Boyardee. Before you start thinking that's a knock on Hudd's Fury, let me quickly interject that it's not. Tomatoes and onions dominate the scent, and there's only the faintest hint of tartness from the vinegar. There is no discernible traces of chile peppers anywhere in this.
Appearance and Texture:
3.5 out of 5. This richly red liquid takes on the appearance of it's main ingredient, tomato sauce, and makes it more enticing by adding habanero seeds and other tiny shreds of solid ingredients. There's nothing pasty about Hudd's Fury and it's rather smooth. The viscosity is dead on by avoiding being too thin, but there's enough pourability to adequately coat your foods.
Taste Straight Up:
3 out of 5. This boasts a very deep, sweet flavor from the tomatoes and onions. I was expecting something that was perhaps more acidic from a blend I predicted would be dominated by tomatoes, and I was slightly off in my guess. Hudd's Fury is quite tasty. Yet this doesn't quite fit the model of what I'm looking for in a hot sauce. I think it needs an even so slight more bit of garlic. And it definitely could benefit from having a tad more kick and twang from vinegar and a larger punch from additional habanero peppers.
Hudd's current recipe is not by any means not bad. If he was shooting for a sweeter condiment as opposed to a hotter, more peppery sauce, then he hit it pretty close to the bulls-eye. But in my opinion, I think this would appeal to a broader segment of the chilehead market by retaining its flavorful base but adding in a little more garlic, tartness and fire.
Taste on Food:
4 out of 5. I wanted to give Hudd a fair shake by trying this on just about everything for a week, and I did just that.
Some of my favorite breakfast grub involves taking fried potato chunks, topping it with shredded cheddar or Colby-jack cheese, and then throwing in whatever else I can scrounge up in the kitchen. Since fresh peppers are readily available this time of the year, I sliced up a couple of ripe orange habaneros out of the garden. I topped it off with several lines of Hudd's Fury. Since the habs provided all the heat in this dish, the delicious tomato savoriness of the sauce wonderfully shined through, making this a delectable meal.
I poured in generous globs of Hudd's Fury into a chicken fajita burrito. This didn't fair as well, and some extra fire would have made Hudd's Fury a killer sauce instead of just being so-so.
I've said it before: pizza is a staple around Casa Del Roberts, and forgetting to put on a hot sauce or a dried or fresh chile pepper variety on some would be a mortal sin. I coated a few slices of New York style pie with Hudd's Fury and I may have found one of my all-time favorite pizza toppers. Unfortunately, there just wasn't enough "fury"; I found the heat lacking in it so a moderate sprinkling of Loganville Shake was necessary to perk it up.
Heat:
This rates at about a 1.5 on a scale of 1 to 5. With the habanero chiles contained within, I was expecting more bluster.
Label:
Okay, I'm not going to criticize Hudd on the label, especially when his product is at such a young age. It features a mushroom cloud, and it made me desire to see a version of the sauce that would live up to that suggested heat level.
Overall Rating: 
I feel that with a few tweaks, Hudd would have a winner on his hands. He's got the core flavor down pat, and all he needs to do is get the pungent and spicy components amped up to truly hit this one out of the park.
You may be asking, "where can I get this?" Currently, Hudd and his wife Betty have sold Hudd's Fury (and Betty's Blue Ribbon Salsa) at local farmer's markets; but if and when he ever decides to stretch his entrepreneurial arms out by selling online or in brick-and-mortar establishments, this is a sauce you ought to look into.
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Review - Sandi Kraft's Great Bacon Challenge Salsa
Spicy Food Reviews - Hot Sauce Reviews, Hot Snacks, Hot Wings, Seasonings, BBQ Sauces, Condiments, and More
Comments
2010-09-05 21:15:08
Our Farmer's Market we set up at is in a college town and since the students have returned the Hudd's Fury is selling better. Betty's Blue Ribbon Salsa is doing quite well there. We have return customers coming back each weekend to get more and we've had people saying that so and so had a jar and they liked it and have come to get some for themselves.
Right now it's just a hobby and we're just having fun with it but who knows what the future may hold.
2010-09-06 07:35:18
Try it on onion rings!!
2010-10-22 12:22:37
2011-02-03 09:22:52
2011-04-29 20:47:40
2011-04-30 05:49:54
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