ON THE LEFT: ADOBOLOCO HAWAIIAN CHILI PEPPER WATER
I thought I knew everything about Hawaiian food, but apparently I missed the most important thing of all, which is that Hawaii has its own strain of chiles, and they are used in a local condiment called "chili pepper water". An odd name, since no water is involved, but it is a very thin, vinegary sauce, so you can see how the name might have come about. Hawaiian chiles are apparently a very close cousin to tabasco chiles, and thus it's not surprising that the sauce most closely resembles the product of the kings on Avery Island. I would say this sauce has a tiny bit more body/texture than Tabasco, and a more pronounced vinegar bite from the apple cider vinegar, and the addition of garlic adds yet another layer to it. But it's a simple, four-ingredient sauce, and would work perfectly anywhere Tabasco would be a normal choice. And in this author's opinion, everywhere else. Adoboloco has a number of products, most if not all of which have the same ingredients (apple cider vinegar, salt, garlic) but with a different variety of chile used. This one uses only the Hawaiian chile, and thus is probably the most "authentic", but I've had a few of the other products, and they're all fantastic. FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS.
ON THE RIGHT: DOUBLE COMFORT JUKE JOINT GREEN PEPPER SAUCE
We went to a brewery in Cincinnati on Thursday called "Brewdog", and after we'd already finished everything and paid, I noticed that each of the tables had (hidden, from where I was sitting, otherwise I would have gone nuts with 'em) three different bottles of hot sauce from the "Double Comfort" brand, which I'd never heard of. I was pissed! They were hiding behind the napkins and forks! Grr! I didn't want to leave without trying at least one of them, so on the way out, I grabbed the most interesting looking one (this one), poured a few dabs on my hand and licked me a little sample. Whoa! It was phenomenal! The next day when I was at the local hot sauce place, I found it, and had to get a bottle to make sure I still agreed with myself. I DID! A rich, herbal green sauce, bursting with jalapeno goodness, it is about as perfect a green sauce as I can imagine, and what I originally wanted my own SpicyKat sauce to be like. I am very, very glad I noticed those bottles at Brewdog, even though it was too late to enjoy all of them with my meal. I will definitely be trying the others soon, but until then, the green sauce is most definitely FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS.
IN THE MIDDLE: BEN'S FAMOUS FRENCH OMELET
Have you ever seen a more perfectly constructed omelet? God DAMN am I good at that. FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS.
FINAL SCORE: FIFTEEN OUT OF FIFTEEN STARS
