Tabasco sauce
Tabasco sauce is a famous hot sauce of American origin, created in 1868 by Edmund McIlhenny. With a spicy flavor, it is prepared with red Tabasco chile, vinegar, water and salt, macerated in oak barrels. Although its name comes from the Mexican state of Tabasco, it is an American product made by the McIlhenny Company, which produces all the sauce sold in the world at its headquarters located in the Avery Island salt dome in the Iberia parish in the southern part of the state of Louisiana, in the southern United States.
History
In 1841, Edmund McIlhenny emigrated to New Orleans, where he met a traveler named Gleason, from whom he bought a handful of red chili peppers from Tabasco, Mexico. He liked the chiles so much that he began growing them on the plantation of his mother-in-law, who owned a salt mine on Avery Island, located 140 miles west of New Orleans. However, when the Civil War broke out, the McIlhenny family had to leave Avery Island until the conflict ended. With the war over, the McIlhennys returned home, where their land covered with blooming chile plants awaited them. In 1868, Edmund began experimenting with making a hot sauce from these chilies, until he came up with what would be the definitive recipe. His first diners, who were his family and friends, were delighted with his sauce and soon people started talking about the delicious "Mr. McIlhenny sauce". Initially created without any commercial purpose, those close to Edmund encouraged him to sell it outside his circle. Edmund began to sell his sauce independently, until he got commercial agents to distribute it. Demand grew rapidly and it became a commercial success. In the late 1870s, Edmund began exporting Tabasco sauce to Europe. Currently the famous sauce can be found in more than 160 countries on five continents and is labeled in more than 22 languages, preserving its original recipe of more than a century. The company founded by McIlhenny has been owned by his descendants from his death in 1890 to the present, with Paul McIlhenny being his current CEO, the company's fourth.
Varieties
During the XX century, new flavors of Tabasco sauce began to be marketed, such as Tabasco Garlic, that is, with garlic, Tabasco Chipotle, Tabasco Green Pepper (made with Jalapeño) and Tabasco habanero (these flavors are not available in all countries where the original variant is marketed). The product is sold in 165 countries.