Jalapeno Hot Sauce: The Perfect Condiment

Jalapeno peppers are a more mild fruit in the chili pepper family with a Scoville rating of only 2,500 to 10,000 (compared to the cayenne's rating of around 40,000!). Ripe fruit is a dark green color and is about 2 to 3 ½ inches long. The fruit can be picked when it is green or when it is red and ripe, depending on your taste preference. The jalapeno is named after Xalapa, Veracruz in Mexico where it is cultivated regularly.

Jalapeno plants are a popular addition to many backyard gardens as the fruit has a plethora of uses and is fairly easy to grow. Be sure to wear gloves when picking or preparing the peppers, as you will inadvertently touch your eyes at some point. Jalapeno juice in your eye is not a pleasant experience to say the least!

These fruits may be one of the most widely used and versatile of the chili peppers. Jalapenos are used to make jelly, mixed drinks, salsas, chipotles, Texas toothpicks, stuffed jalapenos and poppers (or armadillo eggs). Perhaps one of the most popular uses of the jalapeno is as an ingredient in jalapeno hot sauce. There are many favored brands of jalapeno hot sauce and the bottles are often as fun to look at, as the contents are to use! Some of the more humorously named sauces are:

• Arizona Gunslinger Smokin' Hot Jalapeno Pepper Sauce: the sauce is made from red, ripe jalapenos, vinegar and salt. It's a thicker sauce, making it perfect for dipping or coating your favorite grilling meat.
• Mo Hotta Mo Betta Jalapeno Hot Sauce: an all-natural sauce, Mo Hotta contains no artificial flavors or preservatives. Ingredients include green jalapeno peppers, water, lemon and limejuice, vinegar, salt, garlic, onion and cornstarch.
• Sharkbite Green Jalapeno Hot Sauce: for the pirate in all of us, Sharkbite rates 5 out of 10 on the heat meter. A medium sauce, such as this, is a great additive to your homemade barbecue sauces.
• Deathwish Red Jalapeno Hot Sauce: made in Virginia, this sauce is so flavorful you'll want it on your table at every meal!
• Pain is Good Diva Jalapeno Harissa Hot Sauce: full of jalapenos and spices, the touch of olive oil really brings out the flavor in this sauce that ranks 6 out of 10 on the heat meter. Perfect on meats of any kind, try it on a baked potato or as a chip dip. Perhaps more flavorful than a true hot sauce, it's sure to please the palate.
• Pain is Good Diva Jalapeno Wasabi Hot Sauce: this isn't your mother's wasabi! The first two ingredients in this sauce are jalapeno mas and horseradish; sounds good, doesn't it?

Because jalapeno hot sauce isn't as hot as some of its cousins, it can often be more flavorful and have more bite than heat. Try several and find your preference! You may find a favorite for meats and another for veggies. And you may just find that a jalapeno hot sauce beats your boring, old condiments hands-down.