Special guest reviewer Buddah, courtesy of Taste the Fear:

Born and raised on Long Island, I was privileged to have had cuisine of all kinds in the mecca of melting pot communities, New York. The Big Apple was a mere drive away from where I lived and it had much influence upon my neighborhood. New York City is best known for a lot of great American food like pizza, hot dogs, steaks, cheesecake, bagels just to name a few. It has so many restaurants, a visitor could get dizzy trying to decide where to go. Of all the kinds of delicacies New York has, it has never been known for being a hot spot for spicy food. So when All American Hot Sauce named one of their products “Northeast, I am thinking what are they trying to make here?

Ingredients: Seasoned Rice, Wine Vinegar, Chilies, Tomato Paste, Lemon Juice, Prepared Horseradish, Cayenne, Salt, Sugar, Sodium Bisulfate, Sodium Bisulfite.

Well, as many NYers often do, they think when you talk about Northeast, you are talking about them. Yet the Northeast covers much ground. Could the good folks at All American be talking about Pennsylvania and Philly’s Infamous Cheesesteaks? Perhaps they are thinking about Maryland’s crabcakes or Boston’s chowder or maybe even Maine’s lobster? So let us look at the All American Hot Sauce website for some help:

Product Description
All American Hot Sauce, Northeast-Horseradish Tomato

With a bold and in-your-face flavor, our NORTHEAST-HORSERADISH TOMATO is a must for any meal that wants to be remembered.

Tastes great on seafood or any dish that needs some flavorful and fiery heat.
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In your face, eh? Yo, what you talkin’ about? All right, all right, some of that statement might be a little true. A little bit. A little bit. (Can you hear my Robert DeNiro impression there? ) Anyway, seafood seems like a good match for a horseradish type flavor, and New England seems like the place they were thinking about when they made this product. What I have found in trying the All American hot sauces is that they are a bit watery and don’t really work the best as an add on for meals, but as a marinade the flavor comes out. So that is where I decided to start.

Not being an expert on cooking fish, I decided to ask the seafood guy at my local Whole Foods supermarket. I brought the Northeast bottle with me for details if need be. Right off the bat, the expert behind the seafood counter said, “halibut”. At first I thought he was talking about Haley Berry’s derriere, butt once I got my mind out of the gutter and my fantasies of hot sauce and the beautiful pseudo-actress, I was all over the halibut.

Whilst I was marinating my piece of fish for a few hours, I wanted to try the hot sauce to remind me of the flavor I had when I was at the Fiery Food Show in Albuddahquerque. I took out a shotglass, and poured it halfway down. The horseradish and tomato circle around your tongue like a ballroom dance act. I liked the taste sensation so much, I wanted to do it again. There is a nice heat to it that lingers for a bit, but nothing over the top. Out of all the hot sauces that All American Hot Sauce makes, this one is the hottest and my personal favorite.

Feeling inspired, I grabbed a can of okra and tomatoes that I had bought for the sheer heck of it. I was in the mood for some southern greens, and this can was on sale at the same time, so I bought it too. I was looking for a certain hot sauce to have it with, and this would be it. I poured in a nice helping and shook it up some.

It was really good. I surprised myself with this tasty snack that turned into a meal as I made short work of it. I had it cold, then I tried it with a little nuking action. I am not sure which way I liked it more, but the horseradish heat came through nicely as did the flavor. When I finally got around to the Halibut, I had made some of my Buddahmole to accompany it. I added my favorite herb, cilantro on top of the fish and let it cook.

Not sure that is the most appetizing picture, but I am not qualifying for Top Chef so take me at my word, when I say how good my lunch ended up being. I am not sure I ever had halibut before, since most of the time I would order scallops and shrimp at a seafood restaurant. It was a fine choice. The horseradish-tomato blend was delicious with the halibut, and I was quite happy with the Whole Food recommendation. With that being said, I am going to do one more shot of this tasty sauce and call it a review.

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