"McIlhenny's Gold: How a Louisiana Family Built the Tabasco Empire"

WORTH CONSUMING!

As a foodie, I read lots of books on food. This book however was a first for me- and I couldn’t be more excited. I own a fiery food gourmet store, so this book about the history of Tabasco sauce and the McIlhenny family who produce it was the first book I ever read as “market research”.

I had found out about this book in a trade publication, I put in on my list of things to read, and then I read it.

 I really enjoyed it. There actually were people in this book that I know either in passing or very well, like Dave Lutes of Hot Shots. And I learned and unlearned tons of things about Tabasco, Scoville Units, and the Hot Sauce industry. Especially, the whole legend of how Tabasco sauce was discovered. Edmund McIlhenny’s pepper crop was left untouched by Union forces after the Civil War and so he decided to make his famous sauce. And thus a legend was born. This sounds an awful lot alike the story of how the Dukes of Durham started their tobacco empire. And upon finding that the Tabasco Sauce legend is nothing more than just that, I find myself questioning the Duke legend.

 This book is essential for any lover of hot sauces, foodies, or those interested in Cajun/ Creole society.