“Citizen Cajun’ Very Hot mango-habanero salsa captured three awards in the 2010 Fiery Foods Challenge held at Zest Fest in Fort Worth, TX. The weekend festival celebrating hot and spicy foods and the zesty foods culture was held on the weekend of September 10-12, 2009 and was sponsored byChile Pepper Magazine.
The Fiery Foods Challenge is the largest, nation-wide blind judging of spicy foods in more than 80 categories. Literally hundreds of products compete for the top three spots in each category. In addition to ribbons for second and third place finishes, the overall champion is awarded a cut crystal ‘Golden Chile’ trophy as that year’s best product in that category.
In the heart of salsa country, the competition was truly intense. Many fruit and habanero salsas were entered–many from the great state of Texas, which many believe is the birthplace of hot salsa. Nonetheless, this humble little salsa company from Georgia stepped up to the plate and went to bat against the pros around the nation.
When the winners were announced, ‘Citizen Cajun’ Very Hot mango-habanero salsa was awarded Third Place in the Fruit Salsa- Prepared category and Another Third Place in the Habanero Salsa - Prepared category–where it competed against all habanero salsas (including the tomato-based varieties). Given the depth of the entries in these two categories, this is indeed a high honor in the largest of national judgings.
‘Citizen Cajun’ Very Hot mango-habanero salsa also was awarded Second Place in the Cocktail Sauce - Prepared category. If you don’t believe how good this product is as a cocktail sauce, try it on oysters on the half shell or as the cocktail sauce in which to dip boiled shrimp.
If those prestigious awards weren’t enough for one festival, Chile Pepper Magazine conducted a “People’s Preference Awards” judging during the show. Random individuals were selected from the show’s attendees to participate in a blind judging in several categories. When the results were announced on Sunday afternoon, ‘Citizen Cajun’ Hot mango-habanero salsa placed Second overall in the entire show in the Salsa category.
It is truly an honor to stand aside the giants of the salsa industry and be judged one of the best.
