Hot Sauce Hall of Fame

Trappey's Red Devil - Do not get this confused with Trappey's Louisiana Hot Sauce! Trappey's Louisiana is just a cheap rip-off of Tabasco. Trappey's Red Devil, or "The Red Devil" is a vinegary sauce similar to Tabasco but with a less familiar flavor. It is best used on cheese crisps, tortilla chips, and in homemade salsa.

Cholula - Ah, Cholula! A great sauce in a great bottle. Less vinegary than Tabasco or Red Devil, Cholula is a thicker sauce. Great on any mexican food. Cholula would be my "do everything" salsa, except it is much more expensive than others (a small 5 oz bottle goes for around 3 bucks). You pay for what you get with Cholula.

Arizona Gunslinger - "The Gunslinger", as the pioneers called it, is a spicy, smokey, Chipotle and Habanero based salsa. This stuff is goo-ood! But it'll make you sweat. The Gunslinger goes best on bean and cheese burritos (especially frozen ones).

Tabasco - Tabasco is a "gateway" salsa. Once you get hooked on Tabasco you tend to move on to the more sophisticated stuff. Tabasco is indispensable at breakfast time (eggs, hash browns) but after that it pretty much stays on my shelf.

Tapatio - Tapatio is the workingman's hot sauce. This stuff is cheap and good. You can get a quart, yes 32 oz, of the stuff for around a buck fifty at most mexican markets. Tapatio is best on breakfast burritos and pizza, but can be used in almost anything. I like putting it in veggie soup.

Panca Pepper Sauce - This Peruvian Salsa is pretty ghetto. It has one of those flavors that takes some getting used to. It is made with the Panca Pepper, which is unfamiliar to most Americans but apparently is as common as the Jalapeno in South America. This salsa is pretty mild, yet smokey. Best on...I don't know, ask a Peruano.