Massachusetts Gave Hot Sauce Its Fiery American Start

If you put hot sauce on everything, you may want to learn that this condiment, as we know it, got its start in Massachusetts.

Let's get one thing straight: Hot sauce is thousands of years old. Tracing its history online can take you down a pretty deep rabbit hole. With hundreds of variations available these days, just about everyone having at least one hot sauce in their kitchen and Massachusetts native Conan O'Brien losing his mind on a viral episode of Hot Ones, let's look at how hot sauce got its commercial break in the Bay State.

People from Mexico brought the chili pepper to the United States almost 10,000 years ago and somewhere along the way, hot sauce as we enjoy it today was formed.

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The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources states:

According to advertisements in newspapers in 1807, Massachusetts was the first state in America to produce hot sauce, sold as 'Cayenne sauce.' Massachusetts boasts many options, made locally by small family-owned food businesses across the state.

Who knew?

All these years later, America is in a love affair with hot sauce. You'd be hard-pressed to find a restaurant that doesn't carry any. People who swear by the stuff will put it on just about everything: burritos, eggs, chicken, steak, seafood and, hey, maybe even a dessert or two.

My affinity for hot sauce is fairly recent. Over the last few years, I have been looking around the internet for different types. It turns out Massachusetts offers quite a few, made right here.

"There is fruit-based, Caribbean, and Celtic-inspired choices to add exciting flavors to any meal, appetizer, or snack," the Department of Agricultural Resources notes. "Explore an industry flavored by diversity, innovation, and heat."

Our state has many "hot sauce" entrepreneurs with dozens of hot sauce recipes to keep our mouths on fire for years.

The SouthCoast Hot Wing Project

WBSM's Tim Weisberg and his son Adam spent six months touring the SouthCoast area from New Bedford to Fall River to Dartmouth to Norton and beyond, trying some of the supposed hottest wings around – and also gave some other unique wing flavors a shot, too.

Gallery Credit: Tim Weisberg

The Best of South Shore Bar Pizza

There's pizza, and then there's South Shore Bar Pizza. Birthed in Brockton (and to this writer, perfected in Randolph – Lynwood Café is the true G.O.A.T.), it must meet certain qualifications to be considered "SSBP," which include: it's a 10-inch pie; it has a thin, cracker-like crust with minimal "flop;" the cheese is a blend that features more cheddar than mozzarella; and bonus points if you take it home between two carboard-type plates wrapped in flat brown paper bag. They also usually come with "laced" or "burnt" edges (terminology depends on where you are ordering), which is when the sauce and cheese are extended all the way to the edge of the pan, creating a crispy, flavorful coating to the crust. We reached out to the hugely popular South Shore Bar Pizza Social Club Facebook group to ask the experts to share the best of the best (in no particular order).

Gallery Credit: Tim Weisberg

19 Items Absolutely Banned From Checked Bags at Massachusetts Airports

You may be familiar with what you can and cannot pack in your carry-on. But how familiar with items banned from your checked luggage? These are 19 of the more than 50 items that can't fly in your checked bag according to the TSA.

Gallery Credit: Michelle Heart

Filed Under: chili pepper, condiment, Hot Sauce, Massachusetts, spicy

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