---

The Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Contest Trends

One of the reasons that internationally famous chefs like Mark Miller and Stephan Pyles come to Austin to judge the hot sauce contest is that it gives them an opportunity to keep their fingers on the pulse of the nation's taste in salsa. (Stephan will miss the contest for the first time this year due to a prior engagement.) In the six years of the The Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Contest, the judges have commented frequently on the changes in style of the hot sauces submitted.

In the contest's early years, Mexican-style red sauces were by far the largest category. The most common style included fresh tomatoes, lots of cilantro, and fresh jalapeños or serranos. The red sauce category still reigns as the largest in the contest, but it seems to be evolving some subcategories.While the fresh pepper and tomato sauces remain one of the most popular red hot sauce styles, in the last few years, we have seen more red sauces using smoked or roasted tomatoes, chipotle peppers, and less cilantro gain ground.

The green sauce category has declined in recent years and we have seen few innovations. Tomatillos, onion, and serranos or jalapeños are by far the most widely used ingredients although a trend toward smoked tomatillos has emerged lately which has improved the flavor.

By far the biggest change has been in the "special variety" category. Originally intended as a catch-all for sauces that were neither red nor green, "special variety" is now the second largest category in the contest. It has become the home of the Caribbean-style salsas made with habaneros, Scotch bonnets and tropical fruits. In the first year of the The Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Contest, there were only a handful of sauces made with habanero peppers and they tended to be hellishly hot. In the last three years, as Caribbean peppers have become more commonly available and as we have learned more about how to cook with them, this has become one of the most exciting categories in the hot sauce contest.

Commercial operations like the Stonewall Chile Company have sprung up to provide Central Texans with acres and acres of habaneros. Chefs with Caribbean connections like Jay McCarthy, who grew up in Jamaica and now oversees the food service at Central Market, have taught us how to cook with Caribbean peppers. Now the habanero heat is more often subdued to a pleasant burn and the fruity flavors of the peppers are accentuated with all kinds of interesting fruits, herbs, mustards, and vegetables. If the trend continues, habaneros may soon challenge jalapeños on the hot sauce hit parade. -- Robb Walsh