Sign up for our Newsletter

Tabasco-shmasco — look no further than these local pepper purveyors for the hot stuff. (Photo credit: Doug Young)

Fed up with Frank’s? Tired of Tabasco? Look no further than these Hamptons-born hot sauces to spice up your condiment scene this summer. 

Kimchi Jews (starts at $15, 8 oz. bottle) The 2018 brainchild of chefs Jason Weiner and Jeremy Blutstein, Kimchi Jews local roots run deep. All the chiles for the sriracha production come from Foster, Quail Hill, Balsam and Amber Waves farms, with varietals currently ranging from classic-style OG sriracha to smoked green to yellow. Find them at L&W Market (2493 Montauk Highway) in Bridgehampton.

K Pasa ($8, 5 oz. bottle) These domestically made, proprietary hot sauces come in two formats, “Fiesta” and “OG.” The former has a mustard base with habanero peppers and notes of tropical fruit, while the latter is made from habaneros and carrots. Available online or at the taqueria-meets-tapas Sag Harbor spot (2 Bay St.).

Springs Fireplace ($14, 6.7 oz bottle) Made from myriad peppers grown at Greg Kessler’s Amagansett farm, The Hoppy Acre, the Springs Fireplace brand of sauces and salsas has blown up since he started back in 2017. The popular Tesuque (pronounced teh-soo-kay) is a mild to medium heat sauce made from the pepper of the same. The Aji Peach is an earthy, citrusy blend of Syrian Aleppo and Peruvian Aji Limon peppers with fresh peaches, offering slow-building heat. Available online, the sauces are also at over a dozen South Fork spots, including Marilee’s Farmstand in Sagaponack, Eastport General Store and Provisions in Sag Harbor.

Endless Summer by Peter Ambrose ($20 for three 5 oz. bottles) East End chef and barbecue connoisseur Peter Ambrose’s Endless Summer line ranges from glazes and marinades to BBQ rubs and seasoning salts. His flagship hot sauce, Hamptons Heat, is a punchy, souped-up wing sauce that’s full of fiery flavor but not overpowering. His Bonac Burn Jerk is a more tangy style while the Sag Harbor Trinidad Cherry Heat is a sweet and spicy blend that calls upon scorpion peppers — among the world’s hottest. Find them online or at Goldberg’s Famous Bagels in Sag Harbor, Schmidt’s Country Market in Quogue and the Montauk Farmer’s Market.

La Fondita ($9, 12.7 oz bottle) The bottled beauts from this tiny but mighty Mexican taco joint (74 Montauk Highway) in Amagansett offer a taste-the-hot-sauce rainbow, from the mellow and refreshing tomatillo/jalapeno-based salsa verde to the lingering heat of “mas picante” with cilantro and chile de arbol, to the Big Daddy spice of the “muy picante” tomato/habanero sauce. 

Estia’s Little Kitchen ($7.50, 4 oz bottle) When the staff are all wearing T-shirts bearing instructions to “Shake Your Hot Sauce,” you should comply. Chef Colin Ambrose’s Mojo (an herby, minty riff on a salsa verde) brings an immediate jalapeno-based, zingy heat, while its tomato/guajillo pepper base counterpart Rosito is a softer, more moderate sauce. For sale at Estia’s (1615 Sag Harbor Turnpike) in Sag Harbor. 

X
X