This famous product appeared as a result of many years of experiments by the entrepreneurial American Edmund McAlenni. Today, perhaps, there is no such person who would not know what “Tabasco” is. Its excellent taste is provided by an original recipe and three-year aging of ingredients in an oak barrel. However, this sauce can be prepared at home.
Origin history
The date of birth of this product is considered to be 1868. Its inventor was the owner of a small island in Louisiana. Therefore, the original “Tabasco” included salt from its own mine, high-quality vinegar and a special variety of hot pepper, which was later called “Tabasco”. Starting in 1840, Edmundo Macailenny made the sauce exclusively for his family. Subsequently, he began to treat them to friends, pouring the composition into special small bottles from under the cologne. And only after 26 years he decided to openly sell his product. This sauce owes its name to a river flowing in Mexico.
Since 1980, a small bottle with this famous sauce has been included in the diet of the US Army. Somewhat later, the British did the same.
The brand is owned by Macailenni, named after its creator Edmundo Macailenni.
How to cook
It is noteworthy that this product is still manufactured according to the technology developed by its creator. When cooking, they usually take cayenne pepper, salt and vinegar. The pods must be mature and very sharp. They are ground to a puree state and laid in an oak barrel. Pepper has been in it for three years. A special oak is used for barrels - white. It is he who allows the pepper to remain spicy and slightly sweet after fermentation. At the end, vinegar and salt are added.
As a rule, spices and preservatives are not required for this sauce. It is perfectly stored both at room temperature and in the refrigerator. Due to its severity and severity, Tabasco is consumed in small quantities and very dosed. Tabasco sauce at home is slightly different from the original.
Types of Sauces
There are several varieties:
- Specially developed low-burning Tabasco has a sweetish taste and pleasant aroma.
- Green sauce is made from peppers called jalapenos. It goes well with salads and seafood.
- The product with the addition of garlic is quite sharp and is intended to be added to potatoes, meat dishes and pizza.
- Buffalo is much less hot.
- The original smoked sauce is made from chipotle pepper. It has the highest degree of hotness and is most often used with fried meat.
- Sweet-spicy sauce contains oriental spices.
To date, a large quantity of this product has been produced. The company owning the brand produces annually one of the types of Tabasco. Some foodies add drops of sauce to vodka. In their opinion, a completely different drink is obtained in this way, tasting like pepper pepper.
Benefit for health
It is completely logical to think that the burning pepper Tabasco can irritate the gastric mucosa and adversely affect all the organs of the digestive tract. Fans of this product prove the opposite. In their opinion, a small amount of sauce stimulates the digestion process and helps the secretion of gastric juice. Thus, food is better digested and faster metabolism. In addition, hot peppers can destroy some types of pathogenic bacteria that live in the stomach. In a word, in a small amount this product is certainly useful. Moreover, prepared according to a competent homemade recipe, Tabasco is similar in its properties to the factory one.
Product harm
However, it should be borne in mind that we are talking primarily about a healthy person. With a stomach ulcer, pancreatitis and gastritis, even a small drop of Tabasco can cause pain and suffering. Hot peppers increase acidity, which, in turn, negatively affects some diseases.
It should also be careful with renal or liver failure, cirrhosis and hepatitis. It is not recommended to eat any spicy food for prostatitis and hemorrhoids.
Chemical composition
What is Tabasco without hot pepper? The latter is the main ingredient and contains many useful components inherent in red hot pepper. As you know, this vegetable has a rather high content of vitamin C and folic acid. In a product that has undergone processing, it is no less. In addition, the following elements important to health are present in the sauce:
- a sufficiently large amount of fiber, which helps digestion;
- among amino acids, lysine, glycine, tryptophan, tyrosine and aspartic acid are present;
- of vitamins, the largest amount belongs to C, PP, B6, E and A;
- it also contains saturated fatty acids;
- from minerals, a sufficiently large amount of iron, manganese, sodium, zinc and magnesium can be distinguished.
Thanks to this composition, this product perfectly stimulates the functioning of the immune system and digestive tract.
Home cooking
The recipe for Tabasco sauce is quite simple. Knowing the composition of this magnificent sauce, it is quite possible to cook it at home. It is recommended to expand the number of ingredients to make the sauce more saturated original. You will need the following products:
- eight pods of hot pepper;
- one small onion;
- five medium sized tomatoes;
- middle head of garlic;
- some greenery;
- vegetable oil in an amount of 1-2 tablespoons;
- Salt, sugar, white vinegar and pepper.
Since white vinegar is hard enough to find, it is usually replaced with ordinary wine. Before you start preparing homemade Tabasco sauce, you should wear gloves. The fact is that you have to manually chop hot pepper, and it is quite hot and corrosive. In a small saucepan, chopped pepper is poured with boiling water and let it brew for some time. Onions, tomatoes and garlic are scrolled through a meat grinder. Water is drained from the pan, and tomato mix is added instead. Everything warms up over low heat. The composition gradually contains vinegar, salt, sugar and allspice. The consistency of the sauce should be thick enough.
Fast way with horseradish
This original Tabasco recipe at home will appeal to many gourmets. In its composition there is horseradish, which gives the sauce a special pungency and pungency. You will need the following ingredients:
- about 30 pieces of pepper;
- two teaspoons of pre-ground horseradish;
- a small clove of garlic;
- incomplete teaspoon of sea salt;
- two teaspoons of granulated sugar;
- one glass of vinegar;
- one cup of water.
After the peppers are removed, they are placed in a pre-prepared pan with water and garlic is added. Vegetables are boiled over low heat until the pepper is completely softened. The liquid is drained, horseradish, salt, sugar and vinegar are added. The composition is crushed in a blender and transferred to a glass container. The resulting sauce is stored in the refrigerator.
With green onions and sea salt
For this Tabasco recipe, the ingredients remain the same. Only instead of onions use several pods of green. Salt will need exclusively sea, large. By the way, it is it that is used in the Tabasco factory. What is sea salt, everyone knows for sure. Five ripe tomatoes are scalded with boiling water and peeled. Four large pods of hot pepper are cut to remove grains. Three large cloves of garlic are peeled, and the pods of green onions are washed under running water. Do the same with a bunch of fresh parsley. All ingredients are twisted through a meat grinder or blender. At the end of cooking, add salt, wine vinegar and olive oil.
The vegetable mixture is heated over low heat until it acquires a light orange hue. The resulting home-made Tabasco can be rolled up in jars or simply stored in the refrigerator, covered with a lid.
Original way
This method is as close to factory as possible. In this recipe, peppers are left in the water for fermentation, and only then they begin to prepare the sauce. This is exactly what they do at the factory where Tabasco is made. What is the fermentation of vegetables in water and how to make it? It takes five hot peppers that have the core removed. Then they are cut into small pieces and filled with water. The liquid should be infused for seven days. After the expiration of the period, water is drained, and salt, vinegar, olive oil and a little parsley are added to the pepper. All ingredients are ground in a blender and transferred to a prepared jar. The composition should be homogeneous, without lumps.
You can leave the sauce in this form or continue further cooking. Already ground vegetables are transferred to a saucepan, a small amount of sugar is added, and boil them over low heat. When the mixture turns orange, cooking can be considered complete.
The benefits of a home product
The recipe for Tabasco sauce for home uses all the properties of the original. Due to the fact that additional, equally useful ingredients are often included in home-made sauce, the product acquires a lot of useful properties and becomes a real storehouse of vitamins. For example, horseradish is a fairly powerful antimicrobial agent that can get rid of viruses, fungi and parasites.
Thanks to the presence of hot pepper, this sauce helps to digest fatty and heavy foods. No wonder it is recommended to use with fried dishes and fatty meat. Hot peppers are an excellent stimulant for the whole body. Under its action, blood vessels are cleansed, blood circulation improves and the rejuvenation process starts. It is able to expand the walls of blood vessels, so it is recommended to use it for headaches.
In a word, home-made Tabasco are prepared in many ways. The most popular ones are listed above. You can add various greens to the composition or supplement the aroma with any spices. This product is extremely popular in the kitchen. It is added to meat, first courses, side dishes and vegetables. And also this sauce can be added to vodka or cocktails. If you wish, you can show your imagination and add any other ingredients to the Tabasco sauce recipe at home.