I realized recently that I've been neglecting a very common edible in these posts--the condiment. I've done a few posts about jams, marmalades, spreads, and such, but very few about savory sauces. A post on June 8th, 2019 is a rare exception. I'll try to rectify this, starting today with a hot sauce. Or, more specifically, the sriracha chili pepper with garlic hot sauce from the Badia brand.
The origins of the Badia brand, and company, date back to the 1960's. Jose Badia, a Cuban hardware store owner, fled the country for political reasons. Resettling in the "Little Havana" part of Miami, Florida, he switched his profession, and began selling spices, assisted by his wife, Azucena Badia. The Badia company officially began in 1967. By 1970, Jose had his son, Joseph, take over the day-to-day operations of the company. The Mariel Boatlift in the early 1980's reportedly helped the company, as thousands of Cuban refugees settled in the Miami area, and bought a taste of home in the Badia products. Also, distribution deals with the grocery behemoths Publix and Winn-Dixie helped the brand even further. Baden Spice, Inc., sells spices, obviously, both raw and blended. They also sell herbs, dried chili peppers, specialty salts, sauces and marinades, olive oils, and teas. The Badia company was family owned for most of its history, with Joseph "Pepe" Badia taking over for his father. However, in late 2024 it was sold to a group of investors, including the owners of Bia Foods and some banks. There is one legal case involving Badia, as in November of 2018 the Gel Spice Company was required to pay Badia $564,000 for trademark infringement.
Badia chili with garlic, sriracha, picante hot sauce: Had a spicy odor, and a reddish-brown color. Plain it tasted spicy at first, and it built up a little with time. A decent heat--not ridiculously overpowering, but a reasonable medium amount. I also tried some on some Vienna sausages, and in some beans and tomato sauce, and for both it aided the experience, but adding some nice spicy "ummpth" to the dish. Overall then, I would recommend this hot sauce, to folks like me, who don't want crazy, momentous spice hotness, but instead a manageable, spice "bite" to the proceedings.
While covering this blog post topic, I was once again intrigued by the question of what is the official hottest pepper in the world. I went into this category in some depth previously, along with some discussion about the methodology used to determine the winners, in my post on June 6th, 2015. Anyway, the current champ, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, is "Pepper X," created by Ed Currie of the U.S. Currie is no stranger to the hot pepper game, since he also grew the previous champion, the Carolina Reaper. Pepper X has a Scoville rating of 2,693,000. So, case closed, right? Not quite. Some peppers growers maintain that Currie's creation is probably not the real champion, or at least its hotness is highly exaggerated. Because reportedly Currie has not allowed his alleged champion pepper to be tested independently. Critics point out that Pepper X is a mustard yellow pepper, and all of the other extremely hot candidates are reddish, or orange. So, we're in a conundrum. I'm certainly no authority about pepper hotness, but I do find it suspicious that Currie doesn't allow independent testing of his Pepper X. If it's the real champion, what does he have to lose? But maybe we'll get a thorough test, and a final assessment at some point. (Part of me enjoys the drama over a food, but it also would be cool to get a final, scientific judgement on which is the hottest pepper, and what its strength is.)
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