Sunday, April 09, 2017
Avery Island Tabasco Museum and Factory
Atlas Obscura: Deep in southern Louisiana there is an island made of salt, completely surrounded by bayous. Known as a salt dome, this unusual geological formation is home to the fields that grow a unique red pepper, one that’s turned into the iconic hot sauce of just about every pantry and back-bar in the United States: Tabasco.
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4 comments:
It's a fun place to visit--especially if you're a hot sauce afficianado like moi. The thing they don't tell you about is how the family was trying to raise nutria (a large water rodent) as a cheap alternative to mink in the 1920s. Then a bad storm set the nutria free and they've been munching away at the barrier grasslands for the past 90 years--all but obliterating the wetlands that protect Louisiana's coast. It's interesting to contemplate the law of unintended consequences while you're sprinkling Tobasco on your scrambled eggs.
I'd heard the nutria story. The nutria even got into Texas and did a good bit of damage at my dad's ranch (the guy who worked for him called them "neutrals").
There was an effort some years back to market them as food--referring to them as "water hare" and printing recipes in the paper. To quote my husband, "I know what a rat looks like and that's a damn rat--and I ain't eating it!" I'm guessing the majority of folks felt the same way because I can't find "water hare" at Walmart.
Hmm, well, I do love me some Tabasco. But only when my favorite Frank's Red Hot isn't available... My wife prefers Valentina, can you imagine?
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