The Great Tabasco Experiment of 2012

This year for Christmas I was given a gallon jug of Tabasco sauce.  It is a prized possession and easily the best food-related item I've ever owned. 

The sauce.

I'm a southern girl.  I was born and raised in Vicksburg, Mississippi, which is right across the Mississippi River from Louisiana.  A number of my aunts, uncles, and cousins lived in New Orleans when I was a kid and my family spent a lot of time there, so I grew up eating tons of spicy southern and Creole food.  Tabasco sauce flows in my veins.

To this day I put hot sauce on pretty much everything, and I always have a bottle handy.  At every job I've always kept a bottle of Tabasco in my desk.  You never know when you might need some, and I will not be denied.

One day a few months after I'd started my new job last year, our CMO ordered an omelet for breakfast.  CK came up short looking for hot sauce in the kitchen, so I offered her my personal stash.  I guess I was quiet in the early days and since she didn't know much about me, she was really tickled to learn that I keep Tabasco on my person at all times.  I think I joked that I have a holster for it (which isn't far from the truth).  Apparently this was so memorable/weird/funny to her that when she was chosen as my secret Santa, there was no question about what to get me.

The inscription.

CK ordered a personalized gallon bottle of hot sauce that was signed by the CEO of Tabasco.  When she gave it to me at our company's holiday party, I was floored.  It was one of the funniest, most thoughtful gifts I'd ever received.  And I could not wait to tap into that bad boy.

Throughout the rest of the night I kept bumping into her and gushing about how much I loved it.  We were both a little, um... festive... that evening and had the following exchange several times, in slight variations:

CK: "OMG YOU SAID YOU HATE GAG GIFTS AND I WAS WORRIED YOU WOULDN'T LIKE IT."

me: "OMG I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU REMEMBERED AND THIS IS THE BEST PRESENT EVERRRR."

And so on and so forth.

I had to leave the Tabasco at CK's house after the party because it was too big and heavy to get it home to Brooklyn.  She brought it to me at work this week and I lugged it home on the subway in my grocery bag.  When I got to my apartment and set this larger-than-life jug of Tabasco sauce on my kitchen counter, the gears in my head started spinning.  Even though this bottle was freaking MASSIVE, wouldn't it be a tragedy if it went to waste?  One thought led to another and I put pencil to paper.  I found that:

1 gallon = 128 ounces, and

1 regular bottle of Tabasco = 5 ounces, meaning

1 gallon = 25.5 regular bottles of Tabasco

So to use the entire jug before its expiration date in October 2012, I'd have to kill two and a half regular-sized bottles every month.  

Can I do it?  You bet your britches I can.  

And so My Tabasco Fiasco was born.  That night I emptied an old bottle of Tabasco and funneled five ounces of goodness into it.  This bottle will be refilled as necessary, and it will come with me everywhere I go.  This blog will document everything I season with Tabasco between now and whenever the jug is empty.  Hopefully this project will not diminish my love of hot sauce, but given my track record it seems highly unlikely.

After a bit of discussion with some trusted friends and colleagues about this Very Serious Matter, I've established a couple of ground rules:

1.  Finishing the gallon of Tabasco is my project, so no one else is allowed to help or use my supply.  Get your own.

2.  The only exception will be when I use Tabasco in a recipe and share my cooking with others.  That's just basic southern hospitality.

Feel free to send me recipes and ideas!  I love to cook and to eat, and I'm really looking forward to trying new recipes and putting hot sauce on things I wouldn't ordinarily put it on.  I'm fortunate to live in New York, where there are some of the best restaurants in the world, and I will have no shortage of options or inspiration over the next 10 months.  I'm open to all suggestions and have no dietary restrictions.  (Except avocados.  I hate avocados.  Sorry.)

Finally, if you're not familiar with this humble blog's namesake (thanks to Ian for that stroke of genius!) please read about it here.  I am a sucker for a Venn diagram and hope to incorporate one someday.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to bring you lots of spicy adventures!