This year marks the 140th birthday of Tabasco sauce, the piquant pepper and vinegar concoction invented on Avery Island, Louisiana, by Edmund McIlhenny, a banker and avid gardener who cultivated the peppers for the original blend in his own backyard. If you grew up in America and have ever sipped a bloody mary or chewed on a chicken wing, chances are you've sampled Mr. McIlhenny's product. I've been a devotee of the spicy sauce for decades, though until recently I rarely used it as more than a simple splash for scrambled eggs, burritos, or nachos. That all changed last spring, when, after a chance encounter in a Mexican restaurant in Orlando, Florida, Jason Gronlund, the McIlhenny company's executive chef, invited me into his home for an elaborate meal of Tabasco-inspired dishes. As a graduate of Johnson and Wales culinary school and a former U.S. army cook, Gronlund has a wealth of knowledge and experience in the food industry and plenty of tricks up his sleeve. Over the course of our dinner together he shared some of his kitchen secrets with me and, between bites of tangy Oyster Sliders, New Orleans–Style Barbecue Shrimp, and chocolate lava cake with Homemade Orange Blossom Marshmallows (drizzled with Tabasco-laced caramel sauce, of course), put to rest all my preconceived notions about Tabasco sauce.
What's a typical day in the Tabasco test kitchen like?
It varies a lot from day to day because I wear many hats at the company. Basically, I oversee the development of new products and help create recipes that use Tabasco products as ingredients. People all over the world recognize our name, but often they see Tabasco sauce as a Western ingredient, so it's up to me to acquaint them with other ways in which it can be used.
Your job requires you to stay on top of the latest culinary trends. What's exciting you right now?
My travels for work do afford me the opportunity to see what's going on worldwide and how that translates to the U.S. It's clear that as it's become easier for people to travel and see international markets, more and more consumers have become exposed to a more diverse pantry. That's wonderful. As for dining trends, I've been seeing an increase in interest in tabletop grilling, as in Korean BBQ and Chinese hot pot. I also think we're beginning to see a resurgence in fusion food, but this version is much more sophisticated than the one that was all the rage more than a decade ago. Chefs are learning to peel back the layers of global cuisines to see the new flavors they can offer because consumers are looking for more-exciting ingredients as their palates expand.
You've been spending a lot of time in Asia lately. Why do you think the region's cuisine makes a good companion for Tabasco?
Our products have been big in Asia for a long time, but traditionally most people have used them primarily on Western foods like pizza. As a chef I've always wondered why that is, and recently it hit me. If you disregard our brand name and where we are made, the original red Tabasco sauce is a simple mixture of vinegar and chiles that have been fermented. Of course, chiles, vinegar, and fermented preserves also happen to be major flavor components of Asian cuisine, so I think that perhaps putting a dash of Tabasco on Western foods makes them taste a little more familiar.
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