Tabasco sauce is the brand name for a
hot sauceHot sauce, chili sauce or pepper sauce refers to any spicy sauce made from chili peppers and other ingredients.-Ingredients:There are many recipes for hot sauces - the common ingredient being any kind of peppers. A group of chemicals called capsaicinoids are responsible for the heat in chili peppers...
produced by
USThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-based McIlhenny Company of
Avery Island, LouisianaAvery Island is a salt dome best known as the source of Tabasco sauce. Located in Iberia Parish, Louisiana, United States, it is about three miles inland from Vermilion Bay, which in turn opens onto the Gulf of Mexico...
. Tabasco sauce is made from
tabasco pepperThe tabasco pepper is a variety of chili pepper species Capsicum frutescens. It is best known through its use in Tabasco sauce, followed by peppered vinegar....
s (
Capsicum frutescens var.
tabasco),
vinegarVinegar is a liquid substance consisting mainly of acetic acid and water, the acetic acid being produced through the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria. Commercial vinegar is produced either by fast or slow fermentation processes. Slow methods generally are used with traditional...
, and
saltIn chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
, and aged in
white oakQuercus alba, the white oak, is one of the pre-eminent hardwoods of eastern North America. It is a long-lived oak of the Fagaceae family, native to eastern North America and found from southern Quebec west to eastern Minnesota and south to northern Florida and eastern Texas. Specimens have been...
barrels for three years. It has a hot, spicy flavor. McIlhenny Company is in its fifth generation as a
family businessA family business is a business in which one or more members of one or more families have a significant ownership interest and significant commitments toward the business’ overall well-being....
, and all shareholders
inheritedInheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, rights and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an important role in human societies...
their
stockThe capital stock of a business entity represents the original capital paid into or invested in the business by its founders. It serves as a security for the creditors of a business since it cannot be withdrawn to the detriment of the creditors...
or were given it by a living family member.
History
Tabasco sauce was first produced in 1868 by
Edmund McIlhennyEdmund McIlhenny was an American businessman and manufacturer who invented Tabasco brand pepper sauce.-Origin:Born in Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1815, Edmund McIlhenny moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, around 1840, finding work in the Louisiana banking industry...
, a
MarylandMaryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
-born former banker who had moved to
LouisianaLouisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
around 1840. Initially McIlhenny used discarded
cologneEau de Cologne or simply Cologne is a toiletry, a perfume in a style that originated from Cologne, Germany. It is nowadays a generic term for scented formulations in typical concentration of 2-5% essential oils. However as of today cologne is a blend of extracts, alcohol, and water...
bottles to distribute his sauce to family and friends, and in 1868 when he started to sell to the public he ordered thousands of new "cologne bottles" from a New Orleans glassworks. It was in these that the sauce was first commercially distributed. On his death in 1890, McIlhenny was succeeded by his eldest son,
John Avery McIlhennyJohn Avery McIlhenny was an American businessman, soldier, politician and public servant. He was the eldest son of Tabasco sauce inventor Edmund McIlhenny.-Background:...
, who expanded and modernized the business, but resigned after a few years to join
Theodore RooseveltTheodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
's
Rough RidersThe Rough Riders is the name bestowed on the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish-American War and the only one of the three to see action. The United States Army was weakened and left with little manpower after the American Civil War...
volunteer cavalry regiment.
On John's departure, brother
Edward Avery McIlhennyEdward Avery "Ned" McIlhenny , son of Tabasco brand pepper sauce inventor Edmund McIlhenny, was a Louisiana businessman, explorer, and conservationist....
, a self-taught
naturalistNaturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...
fresh from an arctic adventure, assumed control of the company, running it from 1898 to his death in 1949. Like his brother, Edward focused on expansion and modernization, as did war veteran Walter S. McIlhenny, who, after serving in the U.S. Marines at
GuadalcanalGuadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...
and elsewhere, oversaw the company until his death in 1985.
Paul C. P. McIlhenny is the sixth in a line of McIlhenny men to run the business.
Production
Until recently, all Tabasco peppers were grown on Avery Island. While a small portion of the crop is still grown there, the bulk is now grown in various locations in Central and South America. More predictable weather and readily available farmland allow a larger year-round supply. This also helps to ensure the availability of peppers in case of severe weather, or other problems, at a particular location. (All seeds are still grown on Avery Island.)
Following company tradition, the peppers are handpicked. To determine ripeness, peppers are compared to a little red stick (
le petit bâton rouge) that each worker carries. Peppers that do not match the color of the stick are not harvested. Harvested peppers are ground into a mash on the same day they are harvested and then placed, along with salt, in white oak barrels (aging barrels previously used for
bourbon whiskeyBourbon is a type of American whiskey – a barrel-aged distilled spirit made primarily from corn. The name of the spirit derives from its historical association with an area known as Old Bourbon, around what is now Bourbon County, Kentucky . It has been produced since the 18th century...
). The barrels are then sent to warehouses on Avery Island for a three-year aging process. After aging, the mash is strained to remove skins and seeds. The resulting liquid is mixed with vinegar, stirred occasionally for a month, and then bottled as finished sauce. Much of the salt used in Tabasco production comes from an Avery Island salt mine, one of the largest in the U.S.
Avery Island was hit hard by tropical storms in 2005, especially
Hurricane RitaHurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 2005...
. The factory barely escaped major damage. As a result of a long history of dodging tropical storms, the family constructed a 17 feet (5.2 m)-high levee and invested in back-up generators.
Varieties
Several sauces are produced under the
Tabasco name, including
jalapeñoThe jalapeño is a medium-sized chili pepper that has a warm, burning sensation when eaten. A mature jalapeño fruit is 2–3½ inches long and is commonly picked and consumed while still green, but occasionally it is allowed to fully ripen and turn crimson red...
-based green,
chipotleA chipotle , or chilpotle, which comes from the Nahuatl word chilpoktli meaning "smoked chili pepper" is a smoke-dried jalapeño that tends to be brown and shriveled. It is a chili used primarily in Mexican and Mexican-inspired cuisines, such as Mexican-American and Tex-Mex.Varieties of jalapeño...
-based smoked, habanero, garlic, and "sweet and spicy" sauces. The habanero sauce and garlic sauces include the tabasco peppers blended with other peppers, whereas the jalapeño variety does not include tabasco peppers. None of these has the three-year aging process the flagship product uses. In the spring of 2011 the company began to market a new flavor under the brand "Buffalo Style".
Spiciness
The original red variety of Tabasco pepper sauce measures 2,500–5,000 SCU on the
Scoville scaleThe Scoville scale is a measurement of the spicy heat of a chili pepper. The number of Scoville heat units indicates the amount of capsaicin present. Capsaicin is a chemical compound that stimulates chemoreceptor nerve endings in the skin, especially the mucous membranes.The scale is named after...
. The habanero sauce is considerably hotter, rating 7,000–12,000 Scoville units. The chipotle sauce adds
chipotleA chipotle , or chilpotle, which comes from the Nahuatl word chilpoktli meaning "smoked chili pepper" is a smoke-dried jalapeño that tends to be brown and shriveled. It is a chili used primarily in Mexican and Mexican-inspired cuisines, such as Mexican-American and Tex-Mex.Varieties of jalapeño...
pepper to the original sauce, measuring 2,000–2,500. The
garlicAllium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...
variety, which blends milder peppers in with the tabasco peppers, rates 1,200–1,800 Scovilles, and the green pepper (
jalapeñoThe jalapeño is a medium-sized chili pepper that has a warm, burning sensation when eaten. A mature jalapeño fruit is 2–3½ inches long and is commonly picked and consumed while still green, but occasionally it is allowed to fully ripen and turn crimson red...
) sauce is even milder at 600–800 Scovilles. The Sweet and Spicy sauce is the mildest at only 100-600 Scoville units.
Packaging
Tabasco brand pepper sauce is sold in more than 168 countries and territories and is packaged in 22 languages and dialects. As many as 720,000 two-ounce (57 ml) bottles of Tabasco sauce are produced daily at the Tabasco factory on Avery Island, Louisiana. Bottles range from the common two-ounce and five-ounce (57 ml and 148 ml) bottles, up to a one US gallon (3.8 liter) jug for food service businesses, and down to a 1/8-ounce (3.7 ml) miniature bottle. The US military has included Tabasco sauce in Meals, Ready-to-Eat (MREs) since the 1980s.
Uses
McIlhenny Company produces Tabasco brand products that contain pepper seasoning, including
popcornPopcorn, or popping corn, is corn which expands from the kernel and puffs up when heated. Corn is able to pop because, like sorghum, quinoa and millet, its kernels have a hard moisture-sealed hull and a dense starchy interior. This allows pressure to build inside the kernel until an explosive...
, nuts,
oliveThe olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
s,
mayonnaiseMayonnaise, , often abbreviated as mayo, is a sauce. It is a stable emulsion of oil, egg yolk and either vinegar or lemon juice, with many options for embellishment with other herbs and spices. Lecithin in the egg yolk is the emulsifier. Mayonnaise varies in color but is often white, cream, or pale...
,
mustardMustard is a condiment made from the seeds of a mustard plant...
,
steak sauceSteak sauce —brown sauce —is a generic term for a dark brown sauce commonly served as a condiment for meat.The two terms are similar but not identical...
,
Worcestershire sauceWorcestershire sauce , or Worcester sauce is a fermented liquid condiment; primarily used to flavour meat or fish dishes.First made at 60 Broad Street, Worcester, England, by two dispensing chemists, John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins, the Lea & Perrins brand was commercialised in 1837 and...
,
soy sauceSoy sauce is a condiment produced by fermenting soybeans with Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae molds, along with water and salt...
, teriyaki sauce, marinating sauce, barbecue sauce, chili sauce, pepper jelly, and
Bloody MaryA Bloody Mary is a popular cocktail containing vodka, tomato juice, and usually other spices or flavorings such as Worcestershire sauce, Peri-Peri Sauce, Tabasco sauce, beef consomme or bouillon, horseradish, celery, olive, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, and celery salt...
mix. McIlhenny Company also permits other brands to use and advertise Tabasco sauce as an ingredient in their products (a common marketing practice called "
co-brandingCo-branding refers to several different marketing arrangements:Co-branding, also called brand partnership, is when two companies form an alliance to work together, creating marketing synergy...
"), including
SpamSpam is a canned precooked meat product made by the Hormel Foods Corporation, first introduced in 1937. The labeled ingredients in the classic variety of Spam are chopped pork shoulder meat, with ham meat added, salt, water, modified potato starch as a binder, and sodium nitrite as a preservative...
, Slim Jim beef sticks,
HeinzThe H. J. Heinz Company , commonly known as Heinz and famous for its "57 Varieties" slogan and its ketchup, is an American food company with world headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Perhaps best known for its ketchup, the H.J...
ketchup,
A1 steak sauceA1 is a steak sauce and condiment for use with meat or game dishes. It was developed in the United Kingdom as a brand in the year 1831 and was later introduced to the United States by G.F...
,
Plochman'sPlochman's is an American brand of mustard. It is made by Plochman, Inc., based in Manteno, Illinois. It is most recognized by its barrel shaped bottle. Founded in 1852 as Premium Mustard Mills in Chicago, it later changed its name to Plochman, Inc. In 1957 it began selling mustard in the now...
mustard,
Cheez-ItCheez-It is an American snack food cracker manufactured by the Kellogg Company through the Sunshine Biscuits division. They are roughly 26 by 24 mm rectangular crackers made with wheat flour, vegetable oil, sharp yellow cheese, salt, and spices...
crackers,
Lawry'sLawry's The Prime Rib is a high-end, gourmet restaurant chain. The original location on Restaurant Row on La Cienega Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California, was founded by Lawrence L. Frank and Walter Van de Kamp and opened in 1938...
salt,
Zapp'sZapp's is a brand of potato chip made in the United States. The chips are cooked and packaged in Gramercy, Louisiana. The chips are kettle-cooked in peanut oil . Zapp's market themselves with their Cajun heritage, using names such as "Spicy Cajun Crawtator", "Sour Cream and Creole Onion" and "Cajun...
potato chips and Vlasic
picklesPickles may refer to:* A pickled cucumber, the food most commonly referred to as a pickle in the U.S. and Canada* A pickled onion, the food most commonly referred to as a pickle in the UK* Other vegetables that have been pickled...
.
The original red Tabasco sauce has a
shelf lifeShelf life is the length of time that food, drink, medicine, chemicals, and many other perishable items are given before they are considered unsuitable for sale, use, or consumption...
of five years when stored in a cool and dry place; other Tabasco flavors have shorter shelf lives.
During the
Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, BGen. McIlhenny issued
The Charlie Ration Cookbook. (
Charlie rationThe C-Ration, or Type C ration, was an individual canned, pre-cooked, or prepared wet ration intended to be issued to U.S. military land forces when fresh food or packaged unprepared food prepared in mess halls or field kitchens was impractical or not available, and when a survival ration was...
was slang for the field meal given to troops.) This cookbook came wrapped around a two-ounce bottle of Tabasco sauce in a
camouflageCamouflage is a method of concealment that allows an otherwise visible animal, military vehicle, or other object to remain unnoticed, by blending with its environment. Examples include a leopard's spotted coat, the battledress of a modern soldier and a leaf-mimic butterfly...
d, water-resistant container. It included instructions on how to mix C-rations to make such meals as "Combat Canapés" or "Breast of Chicken under Bullets."
During the 1980s, the U.S. military began to include miniature bottles of Tabasco sauce in its MREs. Eventually, miniature bottles of Tabasco sauce were included in two-thirds of all MRE menus. (These same miniature bottles are also included in British MOD rations.) During the same period, McIlhenny Company issued a new military-oriented cookbook using characters from the comic strip
Beetle BaileyBeetle Bailey is an American comic strip set in a fictional United States Army military post, created by cartoonist Mort Walker. It is among the oldest comic strips still being produced by the original creator...
, titled
The Unofficial MRE Cookbook, which it offered free of charge to U.S. troops.
Tabasco appears on the menu of
NASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's
space shuttleThe Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
program and has gone into orbit on the shuttles. It was on
SkylabSkylab was a space station launched and operated by NASA, the space agency of the United States. Skylab orbited the Earth from 1973 to 1979, and included a workshop, a solar observatory, and other systems. It was launched unmanned by a modified Saturn V rocket, with a mass of...
and on the
International Space StationThe International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
.
In art and culture
The Tabasco bottle is an original design and has remained almost unchanged up to the present, and has appeared in many movies, some as far back as
Charlie ChaplinSir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
's
Modern TimesModern Times is a 1936 comedy film by Charlie Chaplin that has his iconic Little Tramp character struggling to survive in the modern, industrialized world. The film is a comment on the desperate employment and fiscal conditions many people faced during the Great Depression, conditions created, in...
in 1936.
External links