Hot Momma

Leslie Hall is the Quality Assurance Industrial Specialist for Tabasco Sauce. That means she tastes the hot Tabasco brand sauce all day, every day. It's her job.

“I like it hot! I’m a Louisiana girl,” she smiled. She better like it — as a food scientist, Leslie tests every batch of Tabasco Sauce four times, checking for all the key Tabasco qualities and searching for any flavor irregularities. She keeps a box of Saltine crackers on hand to cleanse her palate and a nearby freezer is stocked with boxes of miniature ice cream sandwiches to help combat the warm burn on the lips and tongue.

But even after eating hot sauce all day long, Leslie still goes home and cooks with it, “We have young children, so my husband and I season our food after we serve it.”

Andrew Evans talked to Hall and toured the Tabasco plant in Avery Island, Louisiana. Learn some of the company's history and how they make the sauce at National Geographic Traveler. Link (with video) -Thanks, Marilyn!