FireTalkers
Interviews with the producers and makers, movers and shakers in the fiery food and BBQ world.
FireTalkers - Interview with Wayne Brawley of 2 Brothers Salsa
Here's the story: Texan Chef Wayne Brawley obtained a large amount of fresh tomatoes from his mother, so instead of letting them go to waste he decided to fire roast half of them and concoct a salsa recipe from them. Wayne's family became big fans of his newly-spawned product, in particular his brother Wesley, who encouraged Wayne to continue to make salsa and suggested he tried to sell it in stores. Wesley had passed away in 2004. Wayne entered a pair of salsa contests with his chipotle-infused creation and took home First Place prizes for both. Believing he had a viable product on his hands, Wayne decided to take his brother's urgings to market the salsa to retail locations around Texas. In honor of his late brother, he called it 2 Brothers Salsa.
I've asked Wayne some questions to shed additional light on his past, his company and salsa today, and what lies ahead for him and industry...
Scott: Where are you and your family from geographically?
Wayne: We live in the North Dallas area currently. My wife and I both...
FireTalkers - Interview with Kevin Benz of Twodogs Unleashed
Attempting to cleanly categorize Twodogs Unleashed Sweet Hidden Heat Salishes may very well be a futile exercise. It has elements of products that many chileheads may currently have sitting in their refrigerator doors, such as mustards, salsas, relishes, dips, glazes and spreads. It's like a thick sweet and sour sauce with a mustardy kick and chile-derived heat. Salish (a combination of "salsa" and "relish") is strange stuff but it works on many levels. You'll have to try it to get the full gist of what I'm saying.
I wanted to know a little more about the man behind the product, Kevin Benz, so I contacted him to ask him a few questions. I found out that he, like many populating the spicy foods industry, has a day job but is passionate about his "second" career - making, selling and promoting his salish. He does this locally around his hometown in northern Illinois and nationwide on his Twodogs Unleashed website...
FireTalkers - Interview with John Dilley of Defcon Sauces
Defcon Creator, AKA John Dilley, stands in his "Mad Max meets the Matrix" outfit at the 2009 Weekend of Fire at Jungle Jim's.
I recently asked John some questions and he didn't disappoint as he responded in his usual humorous and eloquent way about a variety of topics.
Scott: How did you get started making wing sauces?
John: It all started in the late 1980's. I had wings for the first time at a restaurant. They were no where near as popular as they are now. I really liked them. I had grown up learning how to cook from my grandmother as well as my mother, and really enjoyed experimenting in the kitchen. Well, the wing things were tasty, and I figured I could make them myself...
FireTalkers: Interview with Neil Smith of The Hippy Seed Company
Based out of Ettalong Beach, New South Wales, Australia (approximately one hour north of Sydney), Neil Smith of The Hippy Seed Company is known for breeding and selling chilli pepper plants, seeds and powders, which include some of the hottest capsicum varieties in the world, such as the hallowed Naga/Bhut Jolokia. He's recently began developing sauces, which by some reports produce an mouth-numbing burn that hardcore heat freaks would love and a taste foodies would admire.
Neil is probably gained the most notoriety for doing his on-camera Chilli Tests and Chilli Sauce Tests on his YouTube channel. He's bravely consumed everything from the ultra-nuclear Trinidad Scorpion chilli pepper to some of the world's hottest natural and extract sauces while providing the global video viewing audience his reactions and thoughts. With this unique angle, Neil is quickly becoming one of the most well-known - and entertaining - reviewers of fiery eats.
As a side note, in honor of the Aussies (and everyone else in the English-speaking world outside of North America), I've ditched the Western Hemisphere spelling of "chile" in this post in favor of "chilli".;-) Cheers!
Scott: What are the origins of The Hippy Seed Company?
Neil: I started Peninsula Lawnmowing in 1998 and was always in peoples' gardens, so I started taking cuttings and I was given plants by my customers. As a hobby I built a little website and had a few non hot types of chillis and capsicums. I put some seeds of the plants I grew...
FireTalkers: Dave DeWitt on His New Book, The Complete Chile Pepper Book
The last time I interviewed Dave DeWitt for this site, the focus of the questions and answers was to help dispel some of the annoying myths about chile peppers and hot sauces that continue to float around in popular culture.
This time out, it's to talk about his latest literary excursion, The Complete Chile Pepper Book: A Gardener's Guide to Choosing, Growing, Preserving, and Cooking, which he co-authored with a longtime colleague and fellow chile expert, Dr. Paul Bosland of the Chile Pepper Institute. Dave has penned over 35 books during his storied career, most of which have covered spicy foods and the culinary arts. I happen to think that The Complete Chile Pepper Book is not only Dave's best, but also the most comprehensive tome ever written on the subject of genus capsicum. I purchased my copy back in September, and there's hardly a week that goes by that I don't open it up and refer to it for one reason or another. One needn't even be a gardener or a hardcore spicy food cook to benefit from the book; there's enough great information from this book that would interest even fair-weather pepper fans.
The Complete Chile Pepper Book is available from Amazon, and is a beautifully-photographed, full-color, hardcover edition that makes a must-have Christmas gift both for you or the chilehead in your life.
Scott: Everyone in the chile world knows of you and your expertise in all things spicy, but how did you first get into fiery foods?
Dave: After I moved to New Mexico in late 1974, I vowed to start my freelance writing career and starting writing articles on New Mexico food and travel, which led me directly to chiles. I discovered that there was not much available research on the subject, so I went to libraries all over the state and photocopied the librarians' files.
FireTalkers: Interview with Dave Hirschkop of Dave's Gourmet
Dave's Insanity Sauce has the notoriety of not only once being the hottest sauce in the world in the 1990s, but it's probably currently the most famous specialty hot sauce known by non-chileheads. Folks who aren't heat freaks may be able to rattle off three or four "supermarket" pepper sauces like Frank's, Tapatio or Tabasco, but when you press them about giving an example of a super-hot condiment, chances are they'll name Dave's Insanity more often than any other sauce.
It's this distinction and mystique about Insanity Sauce that's kept Dave near or at the top of the fiery foods game for over 15 years. But Dave's Gourmet is far more than just their flagship product; Hirschkop's company offers many other fine pepper sauces, plus pasta sauces, drink mixes, condiments, spicy snacks and more.
I was recently given the chance to speak with Dave to ask him a few questions. One might have expected a wild, gregarious man who once regularly wore a straightjacket to food shows and on the cover of his cookbook, Crazy from the Heat. Instead, Dave proved to be a genial, mild-mannered fellow. After conversing with him, I was given the impression that Dave would rather focus on making his company a diverse brand of gourmet food products ("more of a Trader Joe's or Paul Newman's" in his words) than just being makers of scorchingly hot products, something that would differentiate himself from peers such as Blair's of CaJohn's.
FireTalkers: Interview with John CaJohn Hard of CaJohn's Fiery Foods
John "CaJohn" Hard was one of my "musts" when I made my first mental list of who to interview for my website's FireTalkers section. He a guy who I considered to be one of today's foremost purveyors of heat, yet someone whom I didn't see as the prime interview focus in material that originated in the chilehead world. Sure, CaJohn's Fiery Foods has enjoyed enough attention from the hot sauce blogs to fill a battleship, in the form of product reviews, trade show coverage, and being featured in other chilehead events and discussions. CaJohn relishes interaction with fiery foods fans and they've respectfully returned the favor in spades. But it's been a few years (an eternity in internet time) since CaJohn has had a proper interview or profile done on him and his company from online chilehead community.
What can I say about CaJohn's Fiery Foods that most hardcore heat freaks don't already know about? In the decade-plus time that the Columbus, Ohio company has existed, it has become the winning-est hot sauce manufacturer in America, racking up over 350 prestigious awards, which include dozens of Golden Chiles and Scovies. They have a dizzying array of products that are awesomely delicious (I haven't tasted a weak one yet) and aren't afraid to push the envelope in terms of both heat and flavor. Inside of Columbus' North Market, a foodie paradise, CaJohn's owns both a small hot sauce store and an eatery that serves chili, enchiladas, spicy smoked sausage and nachos. CaJohn and his employees are a fixture at hot sauces shows and open up their own business to chileheads every year after the Weekend of Fire event for an open house and barbecue. CaJohn and his wife Sue participate in an annual congregation of pepper fans (known as the "Fire Mountain Krewe") at his own cabins in Gatlinburg, Tennessee for a weekend of fun and spicy eating.
CaJohn (pronounced "Kay-John", NOT "Kuh-John" or "California John") is a man instantly recognizable with his trademark trimmed Santa Claus beard and pepper print shirts. What's also trademark of him is his enthusiasm about the spicy foods and his willingness to help out both fellow sauce makers and his fans. He was gracious enough to let me ask him a few questions on him and his business...
FireTalkers: Interview with Dan Houston of the Global Warming Salsa Company
Dan Houston of the Global Warming Salsa Co. has one of the most intriging tales of the spicy foods world in recent memory. He and his wife Cherie have been longtime fitness consultants with their own Michigan-based company, Houston Fitness Consultants, and have been using a "chile pepper approach to exercise" (what that is exactly is described by Dan below). Wanting to develop healthy foods and to help raise funds for an exercise and nutrition book for kids, they decided to create salsas to aide them in their quest. A portion of Global Warming's profits also goes to help an organization that aims to help save muscle cars, as Dan is heavily into racing and classic American automobiles.
I think Global Warming has one of the cleverest themes I've seen in a while. Dan choose it as a play on the term heard so often today, but with much different meanings. One, the "Global" in the name is meant as flavors from around the world, as the company currently has a Japanese salsa for sale and will introduce other international flavors over the coming weeks. The "Warming" part is used to represent heat levels found in their products. A combination of these two concepts makes for one very interesting potential marketing angle.
It also doesn't hurt that that Global Warming Salsa Co. has some really high quality and tasty products - so good, in fact, that their fire-roasted salsas have won in the Scovies and The Hot Pepper Awards...
FireTalkers: Interview with Blair Lazar of Blair's Sauces and Snacks
Whether or not you're a fan of his products, you have to admit that few people have had the impact and garnered a cult-like following quite like Blair Lazar of Blair's Sauces and Snacks. I was recently given the opportunity to have an extended conversation with Blair, and he was candid, gushingly accommodating and extremely passionate as we spoke. We touched on several topics, including his reserves (which struck a nerve when I mentioned some were critical of the prices for which they were being sold), being on the internet, his collaboration with rock guitarist Zakk Wylde on the Berserker Sauces, and the fiery foods business.
Scott: For those who have never heard it, what was the "Reader's Digest" version of how you created the Wings of Death challenge while working as a bartender on the Jersey Shore?
Blair: Well, that's the inception of my Death Sauce back in '89, you know bartending, serving drunks on the Jersey Shore. This was before what's happened in the last 20 years, with the proliferation of spice. I think there's something really exciting about watching somebody eat something hot, and that's just as "simpleton" as I can say it. I think when you're serving people liquor, and it's 2 o'clock in the morning, what can you really do that's legal to get them to leave? You can say, "hey, if you can eat my wings you can hang all night at the bar." I would make four of the hottest wings you could possibly find, and tell them...
Firetalkers - Interview with Jim Campbell of Mild to Wild Pepper Company
I've respected Jim Campbell for a long time. The guy's done a great many things which make him an excellent all-around ambassador of the fiery foods industry. If you're relatively new to the hot sauce world, you may or may not know that he has worn many hats (no pun intended) in addition to running the Mild to Wild Pepper and Herb Company. His day job is being a firefighter with the Pike Township Fire Department in Indianapolis, Indiana, which instantly earns him the title of "hero" in my book. Jim has founded the Step Up for Charity organization a not-for-profit group that raises funds for charitable organizations, and he once held the world record for stair climbing (106,000 stairs in one 24-hour period!) that he used to help promote this great cause. On his commercial fields, he grows chile peppers that supplies chiles to a large segment of the U.S. specialty hot sauce market. On his fields he also hosts the annual Woodstock-like "Open Fields" pepper event every fall, where chileheads converge for a weekend to pick chiles and to celebrate the spicy life. Overall, Jim is an intriguing individual, so I'm pleased to have been able to ask Jim a few questions, and he was more than happy to provide his often humorous, always knowledgeable insight...
FireTalkers: Interview with Danise Coon and Dr. Paul Bosland of the Chile Pepper Institute
For over 15 years, the Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces has done some of the most advanced work on scientific breeding and genetics of chile peppers in the world. I've recently asked Danise Coon and Dr. Paul Bosland of the CPI some questions on a plethora of topics. If you're unfamiliar with them, Danise Coon is the Program Coordinator and Assistant Director at the Institute. Dr. Paul Bosland is the co-founder and Director of the Institute, a Regents Professor in horticulture, one of the world's foremost authorities on chile peppers, a book author (his latest tome is The Complete Chile Pepper Book, which he co-penned with Dave DeWitt), and famously was the one who discovered the Bhut Jolokia, which was named the world's hottest chile pepper by Guinness World Records.
Danise and Paul gave answers on a variety of matters such as the Chile Pepper Institute itself, the world of chile peppers, their Holy Jolokia Hot Sauce co-created by CaJohn's Fiery Foods, Dr. Bosland's new book and if the Trinidad Scorpion pepper has any chance of surpassing the Bhut Jolokia in terms of heat...
FireTalkers: Interview with Cleo 'Jake' Calloway, Jr. of Jake's Barbeque Sauce
Cleo "Jake" Calloway, Jr., president and owner of Jake's Barbeque Sauce and Seasonings Company, is one of the most passionate people I've ever talked to, and seems to be totally into what he does. He's extremely helpful and accommodating, too - I gave him a list of sample questions that I would plan to ask him a few days in advance of our phone conversation, and he e-mailed me back condensed but detailed answers to each one, which aided tremendously in the editing of this interview. And just speaking to him, he exuded an honest enthusiasm and love of what he does that it was darn near infectious. It was hard not to like this guy and what he does; and after reviewing his Barbecue Sauces and his Basil Marinade, I would say he does it quite well.
Before interviewing him, I had only known him as Cleo and did not know of his nickname, so it led me to start out by asking him...
Scott: How did the company get its name and who is Jake?
Jake: Jake is my great-grandfather, whom I was nicknamed after. After developing my first sauce and gaining approval on the flavoring from my parents and I was talking with them about the products when my mother mentioned that I reminded her of her grandfather Jake. Jake was an old time barbecuer and spent hours upon hours perfecting his sauces and dry seasonings. She said that I have that same level of diligence and persistence and with that I name the company Jake's...
FireTalkers: Interview with Benito Maniscalco of Benito's Hot Sauces
A native of New Jersey, special education teacher Benito Maniscalco got bitten by the hot sauce bug while working as a waiter during his grad school days. He later started producing homemade sauces for another restaurant, and as word got out he expanded his offerings to include his current hot sauce lineup of five different products. He's since relocated to Vermont and is working to grow his presense in the New England area, and thanks in part to reviews on blogs such as Hot Sauce Blog, The Hot Zone Online and my own, he's gaining a national audience.
One thing that sets Benito's Hot Sauces apart from a lot of other newer manufacturers is the usage of all-natural (and often organic) ingredients in the sauce production and the mind-boggling fresh garden taste in each of his bottles. Do yourself a favor and try out some habanero and carrot-laden Benito's Original Naranja on some tacos, or one Benito's other sauces on a double-cheese pepperoni pizza and see what I mean. They're wicked good. Benito's upcoming products include a new habanero & picked bhut jolokia sauce and maple chipotle dry rub, and if he creates them with the same care and attention to quality as his other sauces, they have the potential to be must-haves in every chilehead's kitchen. Which brings me to ask of Ol' Benito...
Scott: When did you first become a chilehead?
Benito: I was working at Mexicali Rose Restaurant in Montclair, New Jersey as a waiter while in grad school in 2002. I found myself really appreciating the different spicy sauces made by the Costa Rican gentlemen who worked in the kitchen. They made a bangin' mole, pico de gallo and salsa verde to name a few. The house sauce was that Iguana one that is actually made in Costa Rica, I can't think of the name now. Anyway in high school and college I always loved a straight up generic hot wing sauce, from having worked at another spot in North Jersey called the Chicken and Rib Crib. Eventually, I just got more and more into it.
Scott: How did you get started making your own hot sauces?
Benito: I didn't really get into homemade sauces until...
FireTalkers: Busting Chile Myths with Dave DeWitt
It seems as though when I go both online and in the "real world," whenever I mention the fact that I'm into chile peppers and hot sauce, there's a good chance that the people I meet will drudge up a misconception, myth, or urban legend about the subject. To help clear the constant confusion, I've for the longest time wanted to make a blog post that would take on the most common ideas and separate the fantasy from reality.
To accomplish this, I've asked Dave DeWitt to help out and verify if any of these chile pepper and hot sauce myths are true. Dave is more than qualified to answer, as he is one of the world's foremost experts on chile peppers - he's written more than 35 chile-related books, is a board member of the Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University, producer of the Fiery Foods and BBQ Show, therefore rightly earning the nickname "The Pope of Peppers". His brand new book, The Complete Chile Pepper Book, is now available on Amazon, and you can visit his Fiery Foods and BBQ SuperSite for a vast wealth of spicy information.
Scott: The capsaicin found chile peppers and hot sauces can irritate parts of the body, such as the skin, eyes, mouth and tongue. As some people have claimed, can you actually get a blister from capsaicin contact?
Dave: Yes, it's called contact dermatitis. Like with poison ivy, some people are more sensitive and some are even immune...
FireTalkers: Interview with Chuck Evans of Montezuma Brand
I'm very pleased to bring you this interview with Chuck Evans. For the few of you spicy food aficionados who are unfamiliar with him, Chuck was the first person to introduce a smokey chipotle sauce (in fact, he owns trademarks to the terms Smokey ChipotleŽ and Smokin' ChipotleŽ), the world's first maker of chile-specific pepper sauces, and continues to produce award-winning sauces, salsas, seasonings and other items under the Montezuma Brand name. He's a book author (co-writing both The Hot Sauce Bible and The Pepper Pantry - Chipotle), at one time owned the largest documented collection of hot pepper sauces on earth (which he has since generously donated to a food pantry), and is an all-around fiery foods industry expert and historian.
This Columbus, Ohio-based manufacturer agreed to answer some of my questions, and waxed scholarly on topics including the fiery foods scene both past and present, his own products, and those who have infringed on his trademarks to cash in on the exploding chipotle trend. I found this stuff so fascinating that I think a "sequel" interview may be in order; but until then, here is Chuck...
FireTalkers: Interview with Clement Bourg of Cajun Heat
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.
I recently interviewed Clement, and here's what he had to say...
FireTalkers: Interview with Mike Greening of Mike and Diane's Gourmet Kitchen
In the early 1990s, the husband and wife chef team of Mike and Diane Greening went on vacation in Arizona and stumbled upon a hot sauce store boasting supposedly great sauces and bought some to try out. Unimpressed with their lackluster purchases,the couple went on a mission to create a much better product. After a bit of trial and error, one of my personal favorite line of sauces, Ring of Fire, was born, and Mike and Diane's Gourmet Kitchen, their namesake company, has remained one of the pre-eminent manufacturers in the fiery food industry ever since.
Mike was kind enough to give me the opportunity to ask him a few questions about himself and his passion in this inaugural "FireTalkers" interview feature...
FireCook'r Brings Together BBQ and Grilling Fans in New Community
Happy Memorial Day! As we all remember the brave men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice - their lives - to help preserve our freedoms, we can also enjoy the presence of family and friends and enjoy a good old-fashioned cookout. And to help celebrate this all-American of traditions, a fresh new community-oriented website has come onto the scene which is dedicated to the art of backyard BBQ and grilling not just on Memorial Day, but all throughout the year. It's called FireCook'r, and I've recently asked Sean and Marshall of the site a few questions about their new endeavor...
Spicy Food Reviews - Hot Sauces, Spicy Snacks, and more.
