(another)
First Time
and hot, hot!

This time it is tobasco sauce. I had never eaten Tabasco Sauce until the other day. Mrs. Jim made some white beans and ham. My mother used to make navy beans and ham. There never was very much ham, just a little flavor and some odd pieces and a few bones. Mom's was really good.

Mrs. Jim didn't use to make this kind of beans and ham. Her specialty was and is red beans and rice. The beans were made with pieces of ham and andouille sausage. She puts just the right kinds of spices in the beans to make them wonderfully Cajun. Then they are served over rice.

Until I met Mrs. Jim I wouldn't think of eating beans and rice together. Red beans and rice is a Louisiana staple. All the Cajuns eat them regularly, the transplants eat them just about as well.

After eating her red beans and rice these white beans without rice seemed very bland. The trouble is we are about forty-five minutes round trip from the grocery store. So she made do with the white beans.

Right away Mrs. Jim added some Tabasco Sauce to her dish. Since things were so bland I decided I would try it that way too.

Viola! Instant improvement.

So that is how I came to eat Tabasco Sauce at such an old age, for the first time.



p.s. You can read up on Tabasco Sauce (link) here. Most all of it is made in Louisiana. There are several brands, but the most famous is Trappy's. More also can be found from Linda Stradley, and to the web site What's Cooking America, and/or her cookbook I'll Have What They're Having - Legendary Local Cuisine.