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For this first post, I went to the dollar store that is closest to work - Lot-Less, which is located in lower Manhattan. Looking through the food shelves, I found a bottle of Ghost Chili Pepper sauce. My initial reaction was "wow!". Ghost Peppers are considered the hottest peppers in the world. There are many different peppers that exist ranging from non-spicy peppers such as bell peppers, red/orange peppers and sweet peppers to spicy ones such as Serrano peppers, Habanero peppers and Jalapeno peppers. Just to give you a sense of how spicy Ghost Peppers are, they are about 125 times hotter than a Jalapeno Pepper. That is a tremendous amount of kick from a small pepper!
This is a great addition to any food pantry to spice up anyone's life. No, this did not cost $1 ($5.99 actually) but a little bit goes a long way. The bottle instructs the user to use only one drop. I imagine one can get hundreds of drops out of this bottle.
The sensation of heat can truly enhance flavors of a dish that may need an elevated sensation. But some dishes may benefit from heat while others may not. One cannot just add this sauce to all foods in an indiscriminate manner. The gastronomy of the sauce lies in thinking about complementary flavors in which a touch of spice will elevate its overall taste to please the eater. Some of these complementary flavors could be savory, salty foods that can be great with a bit more mouth feel. Other dishes maybe not require spice such as cold, sweet things. But what one considers complementary or not is in the taste buds of the beholder - you!
I personally like to enhance hot, oily dishes with a bit of hot sauce. When something such as beef stew or pasta sauce is given a bit of heat, the experience of eating becomes more exciting. But too much of anything is simply too much so I often think about how much burn do I want while I eat this dish; and does the heat compliment the other flavors of the dish?
This sauce is a great find. The sensation of spice and heat can be found at the dollar store. See what you can find in your local discount store.