Growing up in the 1970’s, in the Washington DC area, I do not remember seeing hot sauce in our family pantry or in the DC suburban restaurants or grocery stores that we frequented. This doesn’t mean it was not out there.

I'll be 62 this year, and have been in the food business since I was 14. I've done just about any and every job. Until my late twenties I worked in all manner of professional kitchens from delis and the Bethesda Naval Hospital mess hall to fine dining establishments all over the country.