About Made in DC 2019
This article is a part of Washingtonian’s Made in DC feature. Local artisans are creating bourbon and beauty products, handbags and hot sauce, clothing and jewelry. We found the coolest things being made here right now.
Hot sauce—once the province of Texas Pete and Tabasco—has become a localized specialty that small-scale vendors everywhere want to claim as their city’s own recipe. Washington is no exception. We’re obsessed with the stuff these days—both making it and splashing it on everything from biscuits to barbecue. Here, eight local spins on the fiery condiment, ranked from sizzling to scorching.
Para Hita Fina’denné
Your fried rice will thank you for a dash of this sweet-spicy, Guamanian-style, soy-based sauce. $4.50 at Union Kitchen Grocery.
Clark & Hopkins Chesapeake Bay
A savory blend of jalapeño, mustard, ginger, and spices can perk up seafood dishes. $7.99 online and at local stores.
Uncle Brutha’s Allsauce No. 10
Put DC native Brennan Proctor’s robust four-chilies-and-garlic “allsauce” on everything from barbecue to fish. $7.99 online and at local stores.
Langdon Wood 1814
Local peppers (aji, ghost, cayenne) and time in rum barrels give these limited-edition bottles a unique kick. $7 on Etsy.
Little Red Fox
Smoked garlic, vinegar, and Thai chilies make for a bright, super-savory sauce. $8 online and at the store.
Snake Oil
Woodberry Kitchen chef Spike Gjerde’s brew gets fire from Chesapeake fish peppers and mellowness from oak aging. $6.60 online and at local stores.
Number 1 Sons Hot Chocolate Bear
Don’t let cuteness fool you—fermented “chili bears” pack a punch, filled with a sauce made of chocolate habaneros and beer. $4.75 at number1sons.com.
Pepperly Love Fatal
The name doesn’t lie—our taste buds croaked after a smidge of this sauce made with Carolina-reaper, scorpion, and ghost peppers. $4 at relishmarket.com.
This article appears in the December 2019 issue of Washingtonian.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
