National Hot Sauce Day

National Hot Sauce Day, observed January 22nd, celebrates the fiery, vinegar- and chili pepper-based condiment enjoyed in cuisines worldwide. Fermented and vinegar-based chili sauces have been made for centuries across cultures with access to chili peppers, which originated in the Americas and spread globally after European contact in the 15th and 16th centuries, but the modern American hot sauce industry traces much of its identity to Louisiana, where Edmund McIlhenny began producing Tabasco sauce in the 1860s using peppers grown on Avery Island, a formula and process the company still guards closely today. Since then, hot sauce culture has exploded, with thousands of commercial and artisanal brands offering everything from mild, vinegar-forward sauces to extremely potent blends made from superhot peppers like the Carolina Reaper, measured on the Scoville scale that quantifies capsaicin concentration. Hot sauce has also become closely tied to internet and podcast culture through shows built around tasting increasingly spicy sauces. On National Hot Sauce Day, people celebrate by trying new hot sauce varieties, adding heat to a favorite dish, or hosting a hot sauce tasting with friends.