I LOVE TABASCO!!

HOW WE MAKE
ORIGINAL RED SAUCE

The pepper sauce that Edmund McIlhenny created in 1868 on Avery Island is much the same TABASCO® Sauce that is produced today, on that very same site. The basic recipe, the process by which it’s made, and the ingredients remain virtually unchanged. And five generations of McIlhennys and employees have dedicated themselves to preserving its legacy.

 The Peppers
Edmund McIlhenny was given seeds of Capsicum frutescens peppers that came from Mexico or Central America, and he first planted them on Avery Island, Louisiana, over 140 years ago. Today, just as then, when the peppers reach the perfect shade of deep red and are at their juiciest, they are carefully picked by hand. (Young peppers are green and then turn yellow, orange and, finally, deep red as they age.) When in doubt, pickers can gauge the color by comparing it to a small wooden dowel, “le petit bâton rouge,” painted the preferred hue of TABASCO® red.

 In 1965, McIlhenny Company ran out of room on the Island and started growing additional peppers in Latin America. (All the seeds are still grown on Avery Island before being sent to Latin America, where they are planted and grow into peppers.) When those peppers are harvested, they’re shipped back to Avery Island for the next step in the process.