There Are Awesome Ghost Chili Hot Sauces Out There
I mentioned while I was penning Food Republic's recipe for the hottest wings ever, that the inability to fit two peoples' hot sauce collections into one 2/3-sized fridge might very well contribute to a breakup. But if you're an active user of hot sauce, it's a great chance to expand your palate...for about 3 seconds before a world of capsaicin kicks in and you're unable to taste anything for the rest of the day.
I've discovered one outstanding ghost chili sauce out of the 30 or so I've sampled (ladies, get your men Hot Sauce of the Month club to ensure they'll rue the day you bounced, speaking of "burn") and have been through at least three bottles of it in the past 6 months. Mad Dog 367 Pure Ghost sauce, out of innocuous, bland little Massachusetts, is one of the rare "insanity" sauces featuring the world's hottest pepper, the world's second or third hottest peppers, or a logical combination of the three, with a flavor so complex and food-loving that it's really hard to stop shaking the stuff all over everything.
The ingredients are simple enough: vinegar, chile extract, sugar, ghost pepper/Bhut Jolokia, fresh habanero peppers, garlic, onion, Peri Peri peppers, spices and xanthan gum. The key is — no it's not in the xanthan gum, but good guess — the spices. I detect cinnamon, cumin and a little nutmeg, and the best part is, scorching as the sauce may be, Mad Dog 367 respects the presence of the spices someone took the time to blend and balance. Current favorite use: it is beyond amazing on macaroni and cheese, particularly this one.
Why 367? Well I didn't call the company or anything (I can only cite so many hurricane clauses) but I imagine it's the extra 2 days of the year you'll spend in the loo should your stomach not boast the cast-iron coating I've been developing on mine over the years. Nicely seasoned, too.
More spicy food for lunch on Food Republic: