Sampling hot sauce until your tongue becomes lacerated and reviving it with a cold IPA—is there a better way to spend a spring day? We don't think so.
This past Sunday, we attended the 1st Annual NYC Hot Sauce Expo at Williamsburg's East River State Park, where more than 40 hot sauce vendors had set up shop. Using tortilla chips and cheese (to soothe that capsacin-burn) as a conduit, we subjected our mouths to over two dozen types of hot sauce, intermittently returning to the open bar to wash the pain away.
In addition to hot sauce reps hawking their wares, there were also samples of Empire Biscuit's Southern-style biscuits smothered in jam, savory Jarlsberg grilled cheese sandwiches, and some seriously spicy margaritas made with Tanteo Jalapeno Tequila. We also witnessed John Krasnow win three spicy food challenges, consuming ghost-chili laden cookies, brownies and pizza. A brave soul, and our new hero, obviously.
We weren't as fearless as Krasnow was, but we did get into some sauces on the high end of the Scoville scale. Here are some of our favorites: The 10 Best Hot Sauces At NYC's Hot Sauce Expo.
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