Monday, July 07, 2008

Condiment of the Month: Cholula Sauce

Ahhh the spicy zest of it. Ahhh the flavor. My favorite haute sauce to lather my scrambled eggs and bacon on a Saturday is Cholula, hands down. As much as I enjoy Tobasco Sauce, especially with macaroni and cheese, Cholula hold my heart (not heartburn). What makes Cholula such a superior condiment? The answer: too many hot sauces out will only scorch your tongue-not revive it with a full array of palatable flavor. It has a touch of sweetness to it, and a creamy (yes, I said creamy) fullness to it. Cholula is the Grande Dame of hot sauces. From a tiny town outside of Guadalajara Mexico, the recipe has been in the same family for over a hundred years.

I first discovered Cholula in grad school. I just finished my third bottle of Tabasco in my adult life, and I needed to buy another. Unfortunately, no Tobasco was to be found, so I tried something different. I used it to garnish my famous omelets the next morning, and fell in love.

I was surprised. At the time, I was living in Boulder, which is well known for organic farmer's markets, professional mountain biking and climbing, tree huggers, and pot smokers. Although there was a plethora of sushi restaurants and microbrews--Boulder is a bit lacking in truly genius Mexican food.

I am a bit of a snob when it comes to the arena of Mexican food. Only excellent will do. Although Boulder has amazing margaritas at the Rio, and Chipotle and Illegal Pete's make killer burritos, it isn't in the same caliber as the local joints nestled along Federal Blvd in Denver.

Cholula helped me expand my mind about the realm of other hot sauces out there. Granted, Tabasco has it's place (try Tobasco Cheese Nips). But to compare Cholula with other Tex Mex hot sauces, is like comparing Crystale with Boone's Farms. It isn't as spicy as Tabasco. But it does have more flavor. I will probably be receiving tons of hate mail from this post, but a cowgirl has to take a stand sometime. If you want to reach for a hot sauce, go for Cholula

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yumm!...Sunday morning omlettes with Cholula ...eaten on the patio with finch seranade!...nothing better... mama cow

The Rev. said...

Curses!!

Even though I just ate a full salad for lunch (complete with a dessert of grapefruit slices), I now have an insatiable craving for Mexican food drenched in this very sauce....

(I'm furrowing my brow at you for planting the seed...)

Anonymous said...

Cholula is great...Have you tried Tabasco Mole sauce? That has pretty good flavor.

TN

Onknees (not_onknees at the moment) said...

Awwww.....sounds great...can I trade you a bottle of "monkey dust" or "cooter rub"?
OR--can you tell me where to get the Cholula? Hurry...
By the way im coming up that way on the 25th of this month.....see my family....

Heidi from DenverDryGarden said...

Cholula is the BEST! I love how it has a little bit of sweetness to it!