Mmmm Heat

Hello people. Or people. Or maybe just me, whoever reads this blog. I have returned from wandering and will maybe post about that later. Right now I just want to post SOMETHING.

So I will wax poetic about my top culinary love, HOT STUFF. I mean...chile. The best way to indulge this is to attend the International Fiery Foods Show here in Albuquerque, with hundreds of vendors all selling and sampling the best of the best. I found out through my heat loving buddy Beth that I would be in town in time to attend the last day. After two scoops of ice cream, tearing up, wheezing continously, and losing my taste buds for a while...it was so worth it. We probably tasted 30 kinds of salsa, plus a wide array of BBQ sauces, marinades, and some other interesting things like Jalapeno hot chocolate and red chile pecans. Glorious, all.

Least favorites: Spicy ketchup. Like...why? Also, there is a brand of salsa for kids, who don't like hot foods. So their label that says "hot" is really a mild salsa at best...what's the point? Just buy mild salsa. They marketed it saying you could actually taste the flavors of the salsa. Too bad the flavors were not stellar to begin with and the point of salsa is TANG. Harrumph.

BEST: http://www.greenbandit.com - The Green Bandit Guys. They are great. I remember their Cilantro Habanero Sauce from 2 years ago and have regretted not buying it, so when we say them we got really excited. I think they were flattered or something, because we walked away with a great deal on all of their flavors plus free t-shirts.

Why is it so good? It's basically a vinegar sauce with habanero (not too much), and a BUNCH of cilantro. Like...it looks like soupy mulched cilantro in a bottle. But their herbs are all fresh, not dried, and they bottle it so that the freshness stays put. Whatever they do, it works. I put some on my stir-fry last night and it was glorious. They have a non-hot version too, for the straight up cilantro lovers.