MF Hot Sauce, hot off the press
Regulars at Tacolicious know that we serve three signature salsas with our tacos: a mild tomatillo-avocado; a smoky chipotle; and the hottest of all, a sunny yellow habanero. While just the word habanero makes some people cover their mouth in fear, our habanero salsa is actually made to be tolerable—enjoyable even.
I’m sure some blame this lack of a hotter-than-hell salsa on our California white-bread ways. But that’s a narrow view of Mexican food. Though it’s true that in the habanero-loving Yucatan there are sadistic salsas that will make you cry out for your mother while checking your mouth for third degree burns (I’ve done just that), most of the salsas in Mexico aren’t necessarily that spicy. They’re meant to play nice with food.
But since opening in Palo Alto, we’ve had more requests than ever for a salsa that can ratchet up the heat. This might be because the blood that flows through the veins of the cushy suburbs turns out to be muy caliente compared to the hard pansy streets of San Francisco.
Whatever the case, we’ve heard you. Starting this week, we have a new salsa picante—now a permanent fixture on the table at all of our locations.
Heat lovers, you can thank the Aussies for this one: A few years ago, Telmo and Joe were hired to consult on the opening of a hip Mexican restaurant called Barrio Chino in Sydney. Given Australia’s proximity to Mexico, it’s not surprising that Mexican cuisine isn’t all that familiar over there. (Let’s just say that when the two arrived, Barrio Chino was working on a salsa made of cucumber, parsley, and capers.)
Finding a sauce in line with Tapatio over there wasn’t easy, so Joe decided to be resourceful and make it himself. After some tinkering, he handed a basic recipe to Telmo who refined it. I can’t give away the secret ingredients, but I can tell you that this hot sauce is infused with three chilies (and yes, one of them is a habanero), and the flavor is garlicky, decidedly vinegary, and definitely spicy—with far more of a kick than Tapatio, though similarly addictive.
The salsa cooking up in the kitchen. Don’t be scared.
As of today, that Barrio Chino recipe has been resurrected for use state-side at Tacolicious. Telmo—who, in the true small-batch spirit, has been been hard at work making it himself, including sticking on the labels—wanted to call it Telmo-tio. This definitely has ring to it (especially if you’re Telmo, who I’ll admit looks pretty good in a sombrero).
The Telmo-tio in its pilot days.
But we’ve been thinking it’s one, fine MF Hot Sauce.
We’re bottling it and putting it on your Tacolicious table to enjoy with whatever you will—your huevos rancheros, your tacos, or maybe a shake or two into your Tecate. While it’s not going to send you running to dunk your face in a bucket of cold milk, it’s definitely hot enough to fog up the windows.
And if you like it enough to take it home, it’s for sale too: $5 a bottle (proceeds go to the Tacolicious School Project).