As our city’s hottest month drew to a close, nearly 300 stalwart salsa chefs braved the heat and the potential ridicule of the preliminary judges to compete in the 10th Annual Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival. When all was tasted and adjudicated, it was decreed that the red sauce entered by Larry Blanton of Houston was the overall grand prize winner. His award-winning concoction will now be bottled by the experts at Austin Kitchen Inc. Blanton will receive cases of his signature creation to share with family and friends but not for resale. If he decides to become a salsa bottling mogul after he’s seen his culinary work of art in jars, it will be up to him to pursue that goal. We offer our heartiest congratulations and wish him all the best.
Reviewing this year’s list of individual winners, it’s gratifying to see so many new names and a few Hall of Flamers in the making. The restaurant division boasts a couple of new, young winners with the 16-month old Tequila Texas Cafe & Cantina and the brand-spanking-new Antonio’s Tex-Mex Cafe & Cantina serving notice that they’re flavors in the local salsa scene to be reckoned with. The winner’s roster in the commercial bottlers’ division is almost a complete duplicate of last year’s list with Hall of Flamers Texas-Texas, Sgt. Pepper’s, Smoky Hill, and Aztexan filling several slots and potential Hall members Texas Lava and Classy Delites showing strong once again. Considering that these are “people’s choice” awards, it just goes to show that Austin’s hungry hot sauce-loving hordes know quality when they taste it, year after year. Ask for their award-winning wares in grocery stores and specialty shops around the state and tell ’em you tried them at the Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival.
This article appears in September 1 • 2000.