In which we ask a few of our favorite people some spicy questions.
Some like it hot. Some like it not. These folks do. And we’re honored they have answered the call of the elite Whalebone Magazine Taste Force (a division of the Whalebone Department of Thermodynamics). This is kind of like the original seven NASA astronauts, except they eat hot sauce and don’t go into space and there are more than seven of them.
Chef Eduardo Garcia
Cofounder, Montana Mex
Tolerance for heat: 8/10
What is the hottest thing you have ever tasted? The yellow salsa at my local mercadito.
What is your go-to hot sauce? Montana Mex. We should have guessed. What is the most unusual thing you have ever put hot sauce on? At 16, I attended Military School in New Mexico. We would douse sugar cubes with hot sauce and eat them like candy.
Vanessa Price
Author of Big Macs and Burgundy: Wine Pairings For The Real World
Tolerance for heat: 7/10
What is the hottest thing you have ever tasted? A homemade traditional vindaloo. Hot is an understatement. I ate my weight in naan just
to keep the heat in my mouth in check but I couldn’t stop eating it, like I was in a trance of outrageously flavorful torture.
Go-to hot sauce? Sriracha for the easy to find. Mendez for the discerning few.
Most unusual hot sauce experience? When we were kids my Dad would play a game with my siblings and me. Whenever we’d eat out somewhere with a range of hot sauces available, our competitive natures took hold. We’d line them up starting with the most mild and apply a dollop to a chip or cracker. Then we’d each take turns taking a bite as we moved up the spiciness scale. You were knocked out of the game if you had to drink to quell the heat attack in your mouth. Safe to say all of my siblings and I have a high tolerance for heat.
Chef Adam Glick
Host of “Stoked” on Outside TV
Tolerance for heat: 8/10
What’s your go-to hot sauce? Tapatío.
The most unusual thing you have ever put hot sauce on? Hot sauce on popcorn. We all know popcorn handles just about any flavor. Spice it up with some hot sauce, cotija cheese and fresh cilantro next time.
@Jonathanwaynefreeman
@kookoftheday Team Rider
Tolerance for heat: 7/10
What is the hottest thing you have ever tasted? Hot pepper.
Go-to hot sauce? Frank’s Red Hot.
What is the most unusual thing you have ever put hot sauce on? Hot dogs.
Heather Arndt Anderson
Author and Food Historian
Tolerance for heat: 8/10
What is the hottest thing you have ever tasted? Samyang Brand Buldak Hot Chicken Ramen.
What’s your go-to hot sauce? Sriracha or Tapatío.
Most unusual thing you put hot sauce on? Mangos and cantaloupe (mostly chili salt on these).
Thomas Kelly
Founder Mexicue and The Chili Lab
Tolerance for heat: 10/10
What is the hottest thing you have ever tasted? Hot Chicken Sandwich at Peaches.
Go-to hot sauce? Tia Lupita.
Hunter Jones
South Bay Surfer, WSL Commentator, Video Producer
Tolerance for heat: 7/10
What is the hottest thing you have ever tasted? Coffee I was unprepared for.
Go-to hot sauce? I put Trader Joe’s Green Dragon Hot Sauce on literally everything.
Joel Gamoran
Chef and Author of Cooking Scrappy
Tolerance for heat: 7/10
What is the hottest thing you have ever tasted? A ghost chili.
What’s your go-to hot sauce? Crystal.
What is the most unusual thing you have ever put hot sauce on and how was it? Fried pigs ear and it was delicious.
Khalil Rafati
Founder Sunlife Organics
Tolerance for heat: 10/10
What is the hottest thing you have ever tasted? A bunch of friends of mine used to get together every Thursday night at this Indian restaurant in Santa Monica. One night I complained that their hot sauce was not hot enough. I remember a guy in a chef’s uniform looking out from the kitchen at me. The waiter told me that next Thursday they would have a special hot sauce for me. A week later, sure enough the waiter brought over a small ceramic dish of hot sauce. I took the naan and dipped it in. It had a wonderful flavor. Rich and fragrant with a slight tangy sweetness. I loved it and I began scooping it up with the naan. The waitstaff, busboys and even staff from the kitchen began to come out and watch. How peculiar, I thought and then all of a sudden the heat came. It seemed to come out of nowhere and came on like a freight train. But also like a freight train it just kept coming. The heat began to build and build and at first I was smiling as was the rest of the restaurant staff and a few of my friends. My waiter kept asking me if I was okay. He explained that these were very special peppers that the owner of the restaurant grew himself in his garden. My face and head began to sweat and the room seemed to slightly tilt sideways. My mouth is on fire but that was not the surprising part. The surprising part was that the heat continued to build and seemed to have no limit. What came next I could only compare to a drug-induced state. I was numb and euphoric but also slightly panicked. One of the busboys could see it in my eyes and he came back out of the kitchen with a mango lassi. The drink arrested the heat but not entirely. I had to suck down three of them to come to a place where I no longer felt panicked or intense burning. It all felt like a movie but the funniest part is we continued to go back for years almost every Thursday until the group of guys one by one disbanded due to drama, marriages and relapses back into drug addiction. My mouth is watering just thinking about that glorious hot sauce!
Gaelin Rosenwaks
Explorer, Marine Scientist, Photographer, Filmmaker, Montauk Pepper Grower
Tolerance for heat: 10/10
What is the hottest thing you have ever tasted? My homegrown Carolina Reaper hot pepper jelly.
What’s your go-to hot sauce? See above.
What is the most unusual thing you have ever put hot sauce on and how was it? I’m a pretty conventional hot sauce user, but I put it in and on nearly everything I eat and cook. One of the most unusual may be grilled peaches…a scotch bonnet hot sauce is usually best for this because it is naturally a little sweeter than the others and the flavor is insane. Habanero is good too. I make a habanero peach jelly that is the perfect addition to most sweet breakfast foods.
