Cool article that reminds us that there’s still some good hot and spicy food stuff coming from the Bluegrass State, even if it is coming from the Cardinal stronghold of Louisville. This article from the Louisville Courier-Journal is a pretty cool story of how one errant gardener became a Scovie award-winning maker of hot sauces and spicy snacks in fairly short order. Check it out:

Red hot brings in green

Sauce artisan gets fired up

By Bill Wolfe
bwolfe@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

What began as a gardener’s goof could be Louisville’s hottest new product. At least, that’s what Leon Kirkpatrick is hoping for his habanero-based line of sauces and peanut snacks.

Kirkpatrick’s company, KP’s Specialty Pepper Products, recently captured two top spots in the 2008 Scovie Awards, which recognize fiery food products from around the world. KP’s Towering InferNuts Sweet Heat, a sweet-and-spicy peanut concoction, took second place in the “snacks-unique” category, while the company’s Towering InferNuts Hot Heat peanuts took third.

Meanwhile, his two hot sauces — Towering Inferno and Lightnin’ Bolt — are finding customers through companies such as A Taste of Kentucky, where co-owner John Hassmann said the brands are selling well.

“It’s a good, quality product. It kind of fits a niche that we don’t have a lot of depth in,” Hassmann said. “There’s quite a market for hot sauces these days.”

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