Media spotlight on Lars from Csigi Gourmet

Proof positive that Columbus, Ohio is the nexus of hot sauce creativity is the up-and-coming hot sauce entrepreneurs known as the Sauce Cartel. We’ve known of Gary and Max, the creative forces of the company, for a while and have rubbed shoulders with them at a few industry events over the past year or […]

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Media spotlight on Lars from Csigi Gourmet

By: Joe & Linda on January 31, 2008- 8:29 am

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Our buddy Lars from Csigi Gourmet has a really cool article (with bio) in the most recent online edition of the Pocono Record. Csigi Gourmet should begin its infiltration of the national media soon. Check this out:

Eburg gourmet takes peppers personally

By Helen Yanulus
Pocono Record Writer
January 28, 2008

Lars Chigi likes it hot, hot, hot.

The freezer of his home kitchen in Blue Mountain Lakes is packed with such fiery chili varieties as bhut jolokia, naga morich, fatalii,
Cayenne Super II Hybrid and rocoto.

“I eat chili peppers in some form every day in at least two of my meals,” Chigi said. “It’s like a drug addiction. Once you get a hankering for flavor and heat, you want more. It’s a healthy addiction.”

Chigi has turned his passionate quest for the ultimate burn into a gourmet food business. Csigi Gourmet — which uses the Hungarian spelling of his surname — has been in business since 2005. His products, which include three varieties of hot sauces, pasta sauce, salsa, barbecue sauce and a balsamic vinaigrette, have won several awards.

And it all started when he was a youngster growing up in Hunterdon County, N.J., where he marveled at how his grandmother made the best pasta sauce. “Every time she made it, it tasted the same though she never measured it,” said Chigi, who watched her grind fresh tomatoes and add spices in a specific order as well as meat for flavor. “I try to emulate what she did in her kitchen in my own way.”

When his parents divorced when he was 13, Chigi often had to prepare meals while his mom was at work.

After high school, he began working in New York City, first for a paging company and later for a telecommunications company, and lived in New Jersey. “I enjoyed my job, but I wasn’t happy,” he said.

He eventually moved to the Poconos in 1999 since he had fond memories of the area from when he skied here as a child.

On the side, he kept playing with food. “I’ve been into spicy food since a young age. I go for less fat and more spice,” Chigi said. “There are hundreds of varieties of chili peppers. They can be used in different ways and have different aspects of heat when they hit the tongue. It’s a great way to add complexity to your food.”