Two Frys: NYC Hot Sauce Expo 2015 Page 1

NYC Hot Sauce Expo 2015 Page 1

High River Sauces Presents The 3^rd Annual NYC Hot Sauce Expo

April 25 & 26, 2015

Brooklyn Expo - 79 Franklin Street - Brooklyn, NY

Sophia and I attended the NYC Hot Sauce Expo on Saturday, April 25, 2015. We arrived right when doors opened so we could get plenty of photographs without massive crowds in the way. It was a good thing we started early since the crowds flooded the Expo by late afternoon. The location was at the new Brooklyn Expo, which is accessible to mass transit but we came from Riverdale (Bronx, NY) and opted for a car service each way.

NYC Hot Sauce Expo VIP area grillin'

Allen Fry - Two Frys at Expo 2015

Sophia Fry - Two Frys at Expo 2015

Buffalo Wild Wings indoor booth

The Brooklyn Expo space was beautiful with an open and spacious layout that let in the natural light and there was ample room to get around between each row of hot sauce booths. There were many hot sauce vendors lined up for multiple rows, and we visited each one. The VIP area inside was set up with vendors offering craft beers, alcohol and extended outdoors to food and more vendors to those who purchased VIP passes or were on the VIP list. Sophia ate a burger, Kale salad, and potato salad from the outdoor VIP area and said everything tasted great, but her favorite was the Kale salad.

Indoor VIP area at 10:00 AM before the rush, LOL!

Sophia also bought Honey BBQ Wings from Buffalo Wild Wings and was chased by a bee shortly after. Adjacent to the outdoor VIP area, there were plenty of vendors as well. I did my share of hot sauce tasting, shopping, networking with my fellow Chilihead friends, and met new peeps as well. There were plenty “spicy” related events throughout the day: Bonfatto’s Spice Cream Ice Cream Competition, Grimaldi’s Pizza Eating Contest, Spicy Taco Eating Contest, B-Dub’s Blazin’ Challenge (Chicken Wings Competition) and award ceremonies: Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Screaming Mi Mi Awards.

Sophia enjoying her Buffalo Wild Wings

Inaugural Hot Sauce Hall of Fame 2015 Inductions were:

Chip Hearn (Peppers.com - “King of Wings”)

Dave DeWitt (Author and “Pope of Peppers”)

John Hard (Owner of CaJohn’s Hot Sauce)

Dave Hirschkop (Owner Dave’s Gourmet-Insanity)

Edmund McIlhenny (Created Tabasco 1860’s)

Congratulations!

For Screaming Mi Mi Award winners: see link at the end of the blog article.

A & B American Style Hot Sauce:

It was great to see local company A & B American Style again this year at the Expo. A & B had a nice selection of their sauces both original and new this year. Their carrot based Original Pepper Sauce is a must have for your pantry. Also available from A & B is their new Pepper Sauce with Garlic and a More Heat version of the Original Pepper Sauce. A & B products contain nothing artificial and no sugar as well. Also try NYC Rooftop Brooklyn Grange Edition Hot Sauce. This local company gets more and more popular every year and they have a nice and courteous staff. Their moniker “We’re about flavor. Not just heat.” is a great self explanation of their sauces.

A & B American Style Hot Sauce

Mild to Wild Pepper and Herb Company:

It was cool seeing our friends from Fort Wayne, IN Mild to Wild. They are the creators of many excellent sauces including the Patriotic Semper Fry (Red Savina Sauce) and Stupid Hot. Mild to Wild also has an impressive line of rubs and seasonings for your cooking and BBQ needs. I shall also mention they offer various tasty BBQ Sauces. Mild to Wild has some great hot sauces including extreme sauces like Hazmat, Fatality and Backdraft. Also try their new Ghost Garlic Sauce and Ralph's Righteous Habanero Sauce.

Mild to Wild Booth

Horseshoe Brand:

Horseshoe Brand had a beautifully designed tasting carriage that looks very professional for events. The shelved booth offered a wide variety of Horseshoe’s flavorful hot sauces. The variety of hot sauce flavors they make is really great. Horseshoe Brand offer 6 or more sauces that are attractive to the mild to hot heat loving public. The heat seekers will love the XXXtra hot flavor as well as other varieties like Roasted Garlic Hot Sauce, Habanero Hot Sauce, Cajun Hot Sauce and Chipotle Hot Sauce to name a few. I was very impressed with their booth and carriage. Horseshoe Brand uses no pepper extracts and use only high quality peppers from around the world. Horseshoe Brand is locally hand-made in historic Rhinebeck, NY.

Horseshoe Brand

Silverleaf International:

Based out of Missouri City, TX the Silverleaf booth had a nice lineup of Salsas and Spicy pickled and infused items. Silverleaf make some of the finest Marinated Garlics I have ever seen. Silverleaf also makes a fine line of Ghost Pepper (Bhut Jolokia) items like Ghost Pepper Salsa, Ghost Pepper Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and now a Ghost Pepper Salsa Verde. If you enjoy spicy marinated garlic, I recommend Silverleaf. You can make many foods and party snacks with their product line. The salsas will certainly be a hit with your chili head friends. Silverleaf also make a Scorpion Pepper Salsa. Silverleaf are a member of the “Go Texan” Organization for Texas made products.

Silverleaf International Booth

Silverleaf International Tasting

Silverleaf International garlics and much more...

Born to Hula:

It was great to see our local friends from Highlands, NJ Born To Hula. We are big fans of their Reaper of Sorrow and Smokin’ Pineapple Hot Sauces. We have cooked with or reviewed both of these sauces on our blog. They also have several other yummy tasting sauces from Mild to Super Hot. Although some of the sauces are hot, the whole line of Born to Hula is about great flavors. It was nice to speak to Ed Bucholtz again, and see his wife. We plan some future reviews of some of their other sauces.