WEBVTT - How Does Tabasco Sauce Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff Lauren Bobibon here. The Tabasco Company was

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<v Speaker 1>founded in eighteen sixty eight in the rural community of

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<v Speaker 1>Avery Island in southern Louisiana. New Orleans. Banker Edmund mcilenny

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<v Speaker 1>used pepper plants of the Tabasco variety that's botanical name

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<v Speaker 1>capsicum for tescans, abrought from Latin America. Those peppers make

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<v Speaker 1>Tabasco a little hotter than most other table sauces, which

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<v Speaker 1>are generally made from cayenne peppers, a varietal of the

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<v Speaker 1>species capsicumb annum, and which are medium hot. A capsicum

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<v Speaker 1>for tescans peppers are hot hot. Mcilenny called his creation

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<v Speaker 1>Tabasco Pepper Sauce, patenting the name. The hot sauce quickly

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<v Speaker 1>gained popularity in America and Europe in the eighteen seventies

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<v Speaker 1>thanks to the recipes that the company created to use

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<v Speaker 1>with the sauce. It's now an important part of Louisiana's

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<v Speaker 1>famous cuisines, added to all kinds of savory dishes, sauces, dressings,

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<v Speaker 1>and even sweet eats like jelly beans and chocolate. Relatives

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<v Speaker 1>of the Maclonny families still round the company, and their

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<v Speaker 1>share of the U S Hot sauce market is now

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<v Speaker 1>seventeen point one percent, which is the largest in the country.

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<v Speaker 1>They produce seventy five thousand bottles a day, but the

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<v Speaker 1>pepper sauce production process has remained relatively unchanged over the

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<v Speaker 1>last hundred and fifty years. The field hands who originally

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<v Speaker 1>worked on Avery Island used what's known as le petipaon rouge,

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<v Speaker 1>or a little red stick to determine the Tabasca peppers ripeness.

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<v Speaker 1>The pepper had to match the color of the deep

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<v Speaker 1>red paint on the stick in order to be picked. Surprisingly,

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<v Speaker 1>despite technological advancement, the company still uses the sticks, as

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<v Speaker 1>workers still pick peppers by hand. So far, a machine

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<v Speaker 1>has not been developed that can make that determination on ripeness.

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<v Speaker 1>Versions of the red sticks are sold in Tabasca's gift

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<v Speaker 1>shop too. Once the ripe peppers have been selected, they're

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<v Speaker 1>mashed and barrel aged for up to three years in

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<v Speaker 1>white oak barrels sourced from Bourbon distilleries. Nowadays, most of

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<v Speaker 1>the peppers are grown in parts of South and Central

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<v Speaker 1>America and Africa, but the pepper seeds all come from

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<v Speaker 1>Avery Island. These are then shipped overseas for growing. After

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<v Speaker 1>they're harvested, the peppers are ground, mixed with salt into

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<v Speaker 1>a paste, and shipped back to the island. Avery's abundant

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<v Speaker 1>natural salt reserves come in handy then, as a thick

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<v Speaker 1>layer of salt is placed on top of each sealed barrel.

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<v Speaker 1>The salt helps prevent microbial growth while the product ages.

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<v Speaker 1>This pepper mash is a whopping ten times hotter than

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<v Speaker 1>Tabasco's completed sauce. Each batch of mash is inspected by

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<v Speaker 1>a member of the maclenny family to confirm that the

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<v Speaker 1>color and aroma are just right. After the aging process,

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<v Speaker 1>the mash is mixed with vinegar and churned for about

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<v Speaker 1>three weeks. Then the liquid is strained and poured into bottles.

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<v Speaker 1>The flagship variety of the sauce berries in heat, usually

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<v Speaker 1>between two thousand, five hundred and five thousand Scoville units,

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<v Speaker 1>which is a measure of spice level. As of this recording,

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<v Speaker 1>the brand cells eight total varieties, including Haban, narrow Chipotle,

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<v Speaker 1>and Taracha, some of which may be hotter. Tabasco has

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<v Speaker 1>also been a part of military rations around the globe

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<v Speaker 1>and served to everyone from members of the British Royal

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<v Speaker 1>family to NASA astronauts. As of two thousand nine, at

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<v Speaker 1>any rate, mclennie was the only non British food company

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<v Speaker 1>that has a Royal warrant, meaning that Tabasco is the

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<v Speaker 1>official hot sauce of the Queen. You can also find

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<v Speaker 1>it on Air Force one and Yes on the International

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<v Speaker 1>Space Station. Today's episode is based on the article it

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<v Speaker 1>Wouldn't be Tabasco Sauce without the Red Stick on how

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<v Speaker 1>stuff works dot Com, written by Caroline you Banks. Brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff is production of iHeart Radio in partnership with how

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