"I’ve always loved to cook," says Joe Stewart, owner of Dat’s Nice Hot Sauce. He explained, "The Datil peppers fascinated me because they were spicy hot with a kind of sweet tang!”

I credit my mom for introducing our family to an eclectic array of cuisines from as far back as I can remember, including Thai, Indian, and Japanese, all before the age of 10. The house rule was you didn’t have to like it, but you had to try it.

Since I was a young boy, I've always loved spicy food. My parents were always adventurous eaters, and I grew up eating a wide variety of cuisine from around the world. Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, Middle Eastern, Szechuan, Hunan, Sri Lankan, Mexican of varying regions, El Salvadorian, etc.