How To Use Hot Sauce to Complement Your Meals

Picking the right hot sauce for the type of meal

So hot sauce is one of those interesting condiments where there are some folks who love to spend the time pairing the right flavour hot sauce to the right meal, and then there are those that simply love adding hot sauce to every meal. Now, we love the stoke for hot sauce in the second category, but when you pair the right hot sauce to the right meal it can take a rather simple dish to a whole other level. At to the next journey (TTNJ) we focus on this element of pairing, and how various layers of flavours can scintillate the senses, set off taste buds and make them sing. For this reason, we actually spend a heap of time testing our new product flavours with different meals, to come up with real life examples of what that particular hot sauce should be used on. We don't make hot sauce for the sake of creating the hottest, burn your face off sauce for kicks, life's meant to be enjoyed and we love and appreciate flavour too much.

For example, take our Pineapple Hot Sauce and put a few drops on your slice of pizza, or the next time you make some sautéed collard greens toss on a teaspoon of our Carrot Hot Sauce at the end. The aromatics, spice blends and ingredients in each one of our hot sauces are designed to complement different meals. The next time you're at one of our scheduled Farmers Markets, make sure to stop by and sample our sauces, then you can pick the right hot sauces for the types of meals you like to eat.

Adding the correct amount of hot sauce

The right meal is all about balance. In flavours, textures and nutrition. That means when we create our meals, we should take this in to consideration. A condiment is a prepared food item that is added to food, typically after cooking, to impart a specific flavour, to enhance the flavour, or to complement the dish. It's not meant to be the dish. So for a safe rule of thumb we suggest starting out with 1 teaspoon of hot sauce on your meal and go from there.

For those just entering their hot sauce game, maybe start with just 1/2 teaspoon of our Jalapeño hot sauce (heat 3/10) and have a larger food to sauce ratio, and then as your palate begins to adjust to heat, you can add more as you like. Read here for some fun food pairing suggestions with our hot sauces and try yourself!

Participation is key

We're big advocates of DIY, especially when it comes to food. Preparing a home cooked meal has benefits that go beyond cost savings and ingredient control, which are pretty important elements themselves. Cooking can improve emotional well-being, it can act as a destressor after a long work day and it plays a positive role in improving social capital. If you take a poorly prepared dish (i.e. frozen, fast food garbly gook) and cake it with hot sauce then that's exactly what you'll have. Frozen, fast food garbly gook, slathered in hot sauce.

Now if you take that same dish and try to create it from scratch yourself, that's where we (TTNJ) want to join. Our sauces want to complement the flavours you create. It doesn't need to be overly complex or technical but there is something positive to be said about the physical act of cooking. Freshly prepared food always tastes better, is generally better for you and there are mental health benefits to slowing down and permitting yourself the time to participate in the act of cooking. Invite a mate to join and you've got the wonderful opportunity to connect, have fun and benefit from one of lifes pleasures we all enjoy - eating.

So how does all of this translate in to the TTNJ Ultimate Guide to Using Hot Sauce?

Let's try this... invite a friend or two over, put on your favourite beats, smoke a little doobie or have a glass of wine, pull out some ingredients and have a play. No rules, just have at it!

Try different methods, experiment with various flavours, textures and temperatures.

Pull out your old cookbooks, research recipes online or better yet - improvise!

Then when it comes time to eating, pull out a few different TTNJ hot sauce flavours. Line them up and go around the table testing out your creations with our sauces asking yourself, "what works? What doesn't work? Are there certain flavours that pop out more through adding one of our sauces to a specific dish?"

This experience is not centered on the premise of creating perfection. Instead, this is all about participation. A by-product just so happens to be this visceral feeling that allows you to feel more connected to that moment in time, place and the people. This is the magic of food. This is what TTNJ is all about.