Tack Sauce

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to be stranded on a dessert island? I have, especially since my wife has had me watching a steady diet of the TV show “Lost”. Among the things one would have to do without would be that which many of us chile heads treasure: condiments.

Say you were only allowed ONE condiment. What would it be? A salsa? A bottle of hot sauce? A mustard perhaps?

I know, It’s a terrifying thought but it’s something I think about. I think a possible “Desert Island Condiment” could be Tack Sauce.

Just what is Tack Sauce? Well, it’s sort of a ketchup-based somewhat sweet hot sauce. It comes in 3 variations: Original, Steak and “XXX” Extra Hot. The consistency is somewhere between a BBQ sauce and ketchup.

Tack Sauce comes in a generous 12 oz. plastic squeeze bottle. I like how easy it is to get the sauce where you want it. I think this is a packaging option more sauce makers should consider. The easier it is to get the sauce out the more people are going to eat!

Ingredients:

TACK AND XXX:

INGREDIENTS: KETCHUP (TOMATO CONCENTRATE, DISTILLED VINEGAR,
HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, SALT, SPICE, ONION POWDER, NATURAL
FLAVORING), CIDER VINEGAR, LEMON JUICE, DARK BROWN SUGAR,
HABANEROS, GARLIC, BLACK PEPPER, 1/10 OF 1% SODIUM BENZOATE
AND POTASSIUM SORBATE TO PRESERVE FRESHNESS.

STEAK:

INGREDIENTS: KETCHUP (TOMATO CONCENTRATE, DISTILLED VINEGAR,
HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, SALT, SPICE, ONION POWDER, NATURAL
FLAVORING), CIDER VINEGAR, LEMON JUICE, DARK BROWN SUGAR,
CARAMEL COLOR, HABANEROS, GARLIC, BLACK PEPPER, 1/10 OF 1%
SODIUM BENZOATE AND POTASSIUM SORBATE TO PRESERVE FRESHNESS.

The original Tack Sauce has a zesty, sweet almost BBQ sauce taste. There’s a bit of heat, it is made with habaneros, but to a chile head it’s what I would call “mild”. There’s some lemon juice in there too which makes me think it would be great with seafood.

The two variations, “Steak” and “XXX” seem to be very similar with the addition of more brown sugar in the steak version and more chiles in the XXX version. The “XXX” was my favorite, natch.

I tried the steak on a nice New York strip and it was quite good. When I grill a steak It’s very flavorful right off the grill so if I use a steak sauce at all I only use a minimum. The Tack Steak Sauce was a nice compliment to my steak.

Tack, who is a chef of many years experience, has a ton of recipes on his web site. From Bloody Marys to dips to oyster shooters, there’s a ton of recipes there and some of them I’m going to have to try, especially the ‘Everything Dip” (Tack Sauce + Mayonnaise = Yum)

Now a few words from the man himself, Chef Tack:

So, Tack, you are a chef and I’ve heard you are a culinary Instructor. Please tell us a little about your background.

Yes, I taught at the Southeast Institute of Culinary Arts in St. Augustine, Florida for 8 years and at Chipola Jr. College for 2 years. I have been in the food service industry for over 30 years and worked in a variety of operations from upscale dining facility (white table cloth) to over 55 prisons throughout the county as a contact consultant.

You live in Pensacola right? I’ve spent a lot of time down in your Neck of the woods and the Gulf Coast is a special place. Has Pensacola recovered from the hurricanes two years ago? Did that have a negative impact on your business?

Hurricane Dennis was the reason we moved from Destin back to Pensacola in 2005. We were basically shut down about 7 months until we moved our operation back to Pensacola. Pensacola and Pensacola Beach are making a very strong comeback and should be 100% for next season since we have had no major storms this season so far.

Your sauce is not a typical hot sauce. It’s sort of like ketchup, sort of like a BBQ sauce and sort of like a hot sauce. It seems to be an all-around, all purpose condiment. How did you develop such a unique sauce?

When I was teaching in St Augustine one of my students came to me and asked if we could make a hot sauce for Mexican day during the next week in class. I went to the pantry and got the supplies to make a “salsa”. The students said they didn’t want a “salsa” they wanted a hot sauce to use as a condiment and to cook with. So I went back to the pantry and got some peppers, brown sugar, vinegar and some spices and we made a “hot sauce” The students and staff liked it and some of the staff wanted me to make some for them to use at home. Thus the birth of Tack Sauce. Over the years I made it in small batches for friends and family. After making it and giving it away for over 20 years my Fiancé, Gayle got behind me and we form a small company and started making and distributing it locally.

I’ve noticed you have almost a whole database of recipes on your website. I guess you like to share recipes! Please tell me a couple of your favorites and tell me about the “ice cream” one.

The creamed crab and dill sauce is one of my favorites. It is great over baked or grilled fish and I have even made it as a soup. I also have made it with rosemary and oranges instead of crab and dill and put it over grilled pork tenderloin.

The crab spread is and easy and inexpensive to make and is a wonderful appetizer served with wheat thins.

As for the Tack Sauce Ice Cream, I was doing a demo at a large commercial equipment company in Mobile, AL and their Chef told me they had an Ice Cream churn on special and wanted to know if I had a recipe using Tack Sauce in ICE Cream. I didn’t so he and I put one together and used it in my demo. I was floored by the response to it. Everyone loved it and we sold several ice cream churns with Tack Sauce that day.

On the business side of things, I notice you have formed an LLC. Has that worked out well as a business entity?

It has worked very well for Gayle and I. A LLC is simple to form and maintain. We were advised by our attorney to use the LLC’s for our business.

Do you use a co-packer or do you “cook your own” product?

Until about 2 months ago we did all the processing ourselves. Then we found Matt at “Hot Wachula’s” in Lakeland Florida. Hot Wachula’s is a small co-packer. Matt does a few salsas for himself and co-packs some other sauces. Matt packed our first batches last week and he was right on the mark with our Sauces.

I’ve never seen hot sauce in these 12 ounce plastic “squeeze bottles”. Why did you decide to go with those? ( I like them BTW, makes me eat more because it’s so easy to get out!)

When we started bottling Tack Sauce we use a 12.5 oz flint bottle. Being glass and using UPS as our shipper it didn’t take us long to start using plastic, (breakage). And plastic shipped about 8 lbs lighter. As for the “flip” top cap we wanted to make it convenient and less messy for our customers to use.

The steak sauce seems to have a little more brown sugar and the XXX sauce seems to have extra peppers and seeds. Are these simple variations on the original Tack Sauce recipe?

Yes, I had a guy ask me once if I had something Hotter that our Tack Sauce, and I developed the Tack XXX Sauce for his Wings Place. The Tack Steak Sauce was developed because a man that tasted the Tack Sauce said it was a little hotter then what he would like for his steaks. Our ‘Tag Line” for our Tack Steak Sauce is ”For those who Never put anything on their steaks”

How is the distribution aspect going? Can we expect to see Tack Sauce in a grocery store near us? Are local restaurants stocking Tack Sauce? .( With the inclusion of lemon juice, I bet Tack Sauce is great on seafood. )

Take one cup of Mayonnaise and mix it with ½ cup of Tack Sauce and you will have the best seafood dipping sauce you have ever tasted. Tack Sauce alone is great on any type of seafood. Add a squirt of Tack Sauce to your next Bloody Mary and taste the difference.
Just this past week we have received a “Vendor” number for one of the nations largest grocery distributor and expect to take Tack Sauce nationally in the not too distance future.

One last question. Do you know if Jimmy Buffet is a fan of Tack Sauce?

I don’t know if he is or not, but if he is not he should be. If you can get me his address I will gladly send him samples…..

My grandfather and Jimmy Buffet’s grandfather use to sail together. In fact his grandfather was a pallbearer for my grandfather (Capt. Tack) when he passed away in 1969.

Overall:

Tack Sauce

Heat 4/10
Taste 6/10

Tack Steak

Heat 3/10
Taste 7/10

Tack XXX Sauce

Heat 6/10
Taste 7/10

A very versatile sauce that could be used as a BBQ, wing, hot, seafood cocktail or marinade. A Sweet/heat flavor with the zest of lemon juice. The uses for this sauce are only limited by your imagination.

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