Day 8 – Louisiana, for real men only
It is an unmistakable ingredient in a Bloody Mary in addition to the main
ingredients of tomato juice and vodka. We Belgians use it to season our Steak
Tartar. Those who want to eat spicy, sprinkle it for example in spaghetti sauce
or in other pasta sauces and soups. I'm talking about hot peppers in a bottle,
better known as Tabasco.
Although Tabasco is a state in Mexico, Tabasco sauce is made only in one place in the world: on Avery Island in Louisiana. The name Tabasco refers to the red pepper used in the sauce that originated in Tabasco.
The sauce has been made by the McIlhenny family for more than 150 years. Pater familias Edmund commercialized his personally developed recipe for the pepper sauce. He named his sauce after the pepper that he began to grow en masse on Avery Island from 1868. The process has hardly changed over the years. Bright red colored ripe peppers are crushed, after which the pulp is mixed with salt that is also mined on Avery Island. Then this mixture is put in oak barrels previously used by whiskey producer Jack Daniels. To prevent contamination or mold, a layer of salt is laid on the lid of the barrel. The barrels are stored for three years. Finally, white wine vinegar is added and the pulp may ripen for another month.
Time to go into the bottles with the well-known checkered label. We all know the classic sauce, but there are several kinds, including the very hot Scorpion. On this beautiful and warm Sunday morning, the quiet and secluded Avery Island is the ideal place to spend a few hours on the Tabasco site. You can take a self-guided tour that first explains you the history of the McIlhenny family and of Tabasco. Afterwards you are given an insight in the production process with, among other things, a conservatory with the infamous peppers, a warehouse with barrels of pepper pulp and finally the 'factory' where everything is bottled in the end. In the local shop, you can taste and buy all those sauces. A spicy finish.
You have to be carved out of special wood, I often think when I watch the TLC program 'Buying the Bayou'. The Bayou are the swamps located in the south-east of the United States and stretching from the Everglades in Florida to the Mississippi Delta in Louisiana and Texas.
In this TV program people are looking for the perfect house in the Bayou, but the attraction is a mystery to me. In hot and sultry summers sitting cozy on your deck overlooking the water when thousands of mosquitoes buzz around your head. Or relaxing with a book in your deck chair and be watched by hungry alligators. I don’t think so. The inhabitants of the Bayou are outdoor people, real adventurers. They love life on and around the water. Catching fresh fish, boating, enjoying the peace and the healthy air, is the attraction for them.
Although Tabasco is a state in Mexico, Tabasco sauce is made only in one place in the world: on Avery Island in Louisiana. The name Tabasco refers to the red pepper used in the sauce that originated in Tabasco.
The sauce has been made by the McIlhenny family for more than 150 years. Pater familias Edmund commercialized his personally developed recipe for the pepper sauce. He named his sauce after the pepper that he began to grow en masse on Avery Island from 1868. The process has hardly changed over the years. Bright red colored ripe peppers are crushed, after which the pulp is mixed with salt that is also mined on Avery Island. Then this mixture is put in oak barrels previously used by whiskey producer Jack Daniels. To prevent contamination or mold, a layer of salt is laid on the lid of the barrel. The barrels are stored for three years. Finally, white wine vinegar is added and the pulp may ripen for another month.
Time to go into the bottles with the well-known checkered label. We all know the classic sauce, but there are several kinds, including the very hot Scorpion. On this beautiful and warm Sunday morning, the quiet and secluded Avery Island is the ideal place to spend a few hours on the Tabasco site. You can take a self-guided tour that first explains you the history of the McIlhenny family and of Tabasco. Afterwards you are given an insight in the production process with, among other things, a conservatory with the infamous peppers, a warehouse with barrels of pepper pulp and finally the 'factory' where everything is bottled in the end. In the local shop, you can taste and buy all those sauces. A spicy finish.
You have to be carved out of special wood, I often think when I watch the TLC program 'Buying the Bayou'. The Bayou are the swamps located in the south-east of the United States and stretching from the Everglades in Florida to the Mississippi Delta in Louisiana and Texas.
In this TV program people are looking for the perfect house in the Bayou, but the attraction is a mystery to me. In hot and sultry summers sitting cozy on your deck overlooking the water when thousands of mosquitoes buzz around your head. Or relaxing with a book in your deck chair and be watched by hungry alligators. I don’t think so. The inhabitants of the Bayou are outdoor people, real adventurers. They love life on and around the water. Catching fresh fish, boating, enjoying the peace and the healthy air, is the attraction for them.
This afternoon we get the chance to enjoy two hours of that life. There are no
mosquitoes here, because the water moves slowly. When we leave, eight pairs of
eyes stare at us.
Eight pairs of eyes that belong to eight alligators lying quietly in the water. They are not really interested in us, they let us in peace. A bit further the bird population shows her beauty.
Birds come and go with an elegance as if they are on the catwalk. When the boat stops its engines, we listen to ... the sound of silence. The absolute nothing
In our hectic world that is something that we do not know, but silence is something we can all use. Peace around us, rest in our heads. Peace and quiet, to enjoy today and above all the following hours of healthy air, of pure nature, of trees in the water, of flowers on the water, of birds in the air, of sheep clouds in the sky. Maybe I should look further than the enerving sound of mosquitoes or the danger of alligators. Today I understood the 'people of the swamp' for once.
Eight pairs of eyes that belong to eight alligators lying quietly in the water. They are not really interested in us, they let us in peace. A bit further the bird population shows her beauty.
Birds come and go with an elegance as if they are on the catwalk. When the boat stops its engines, we listen to ... the sound of silence. The absolute nothing
In our hectic world that is something that we do not know, but silence is something we can all use. Peace around us, rest in our heads. Peace and quiet, to enjoy today and above all the following hours of healthy air, of pure nature, of trees in the water, of flowers on the water, of birds in the air, of sheep clouds in the sky. Maybe I should look further than the enerving sound of mosquitoes or the danger of alligators. Today I understood the 'people of the swamp' for once.
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