Louisiana hot sauce is a spicy condiment that is made by blending hot peppers, vinegar, and salt to make a generally thin, bright red sauce with a moderate heat level. Most producers pride themselves on making a product that is provides some heat, but isn't too hot. There are many uses for this condiment, and it is famously included in many Cajun and Creole dishes; it is also a feature of the classic Bloody Mary, a cocktail that blends tomato juice, clam juice, vodka, and hot sauce for a fiery kick.
Both cayenne and tabasco peppers can be used to produce Louisiana hot sauce. Some famous brands include the Original Louisiana Style Hot Sauce, Tabasco®, Crystal, and Frank's Red Hot. Sauces made with tabasco peppers, such as the eponymous Tabasco® sauce, tend to be more peppery, while cayenne-based sauces can be more moderate. Many of these producers continue to make their products in the state that it is named for; Tabasco®, for example, is still made on Avery Island, Louisiana, where some of the peppers for the famous sauce are grown.
Most markets across the United States sell at least one brand of hot sauce, while stores in the Southern US often carry an assortment. It is also frequently found in places like diners, where it may be set out on the table along with salt, pepper, ketchup, and sweeteners. Many consumers have a preference for a specific brand, as different companies use slightly different formulas that have unique flavors and levels of spiciness.
In most cases, Louisiana hot sauce is actually fermented and aged for up to three years in casks with vinegar and salt as a preservative. The aging creates a distinctive hint of fermentation in the flavor that some consumers enjoy. By tradition, additional ingredients are not added, as they would obscure the heat of the peppers and the natural flavor of the sauce. Some companies do make variants with ingredients like chipotle peppers, which are slowly smoked to yield a very unique flavor.
Although this type of hot sauce is generally mild, some varieties do carry a kick. For people who are not used to hot sauces, it can seem unbearably hot. If someone finds himself with a mouthful of hot sauce that is too much for him to handle, it can help to squeeze some lemon juice into the mouth. The acid of the lemon juice will neutralize the basic capsaicin of the chili peppers, calming the reaction.