Italian cuisine is more likely to add heat through spicy chili oil or dried peppers rather than American style hot sauce. Chili oil is made by steeping hot peppers in olive oil, and adds a delicious spice to pasta, pizza, and salads. Dried peppers come in several varieties. They can be strung up whole and dried, or, as is more common in the United States, crushed into a powder, seeds and all, and turned into pepper flakes. However, if you want to find spicy sauces, they can be found in Calabria, where hot peppers are a way of life. Below are five Italian hot sauces that bring serious heat:
TuttoCalabria Calabrian Chili Sauce
(Photo Credit: tuttocalabria.com)
As far back as 1930, Luigi Celli began preserving vegetables in oil in Calabria. His son, Antonio, founded the company in 1970 as a local shop. Today, the business is run by Antonio's children, Fiorella, Gianpaolo and Irene combining ancient Calabrian recipes with modern technology. TuttoCalabria has a wide range of preserved spices, condiments and sauces, including hot spreads, pepper patè, Nduja, pepper jelly, and more. The salsa di peperoncino features Calabrian hot peppers and oil.
Suriano Calabrian Hot Sauce
(Photo Credit: surianomaisenza.it)
The Suriano company makes a line of gourmet foods based in Calabria, Italy, where company founder Giancarlo Suriano grew up. Pursuing his life's passion, Suriano developed a personal interpretation for many classic recipes. His product line includes spicy oils with peppers and garlic, compotes, and sauces. This Italian hot sauce combines Calabrian chili peppers with white wine vinegar.
La Bumba Bomba by Casarecci di Calabria
(Photo Credit: artigianideisapori.com)
Casarecci di Calabria' was founded in 1998 as a family business in the mountains of Calabria. The company produces everything from pasta and sauces to chocolate. In addition to vegetable preserves, they also sell a spicy bomb. This isn't so much a hot sauce as it is a spicy vegetable spread made from chili peppers, oil, eggplants, carrots, artichokes and mushrooms. This sauce is often used as an ingredient to spice up other dishes like pasta and sauce, and of course, for added fun, the bottle is shaped like a bomb.
Firelli Italian Hot Sauce
(Photo Credit: shop-us.firelli.com)
Firelli hot sauce comes in three flavors: hot, extra hot, and truffle. Italians love mixing truffle flavors into different products, but one surprising place to find is in hot sauce. The basic sauce combines roasted red peppers with spicy Calabrian chilis, creating a dynamic flavor designed in Parma specifically as a pizza topping. The sauces also include balsamic vinegar and porcini mushrooms.
Tartufi Jimmy Truffle Hot Chili Sauce
(Photo Credit: titaitalia.com)
This company specializes in the freshest of truffles. The line of products from the company is all truffle based, rather than chili based, and has managed to marry the spice of hot Calabrian chilis with delicate summer truffles. For something less spicy, the company sells a truffle-flavored ketchup - molto americano!
Ian MacAllen
Ian MacAllen is America Domani's Senior Correspondent and the author of Red Sauce: How Italian Food Became American. He is a writer, editor, and graphic designer living in Brooklyn. Connect with him at IanMacAllen.com or on Twitter @IanMacAllen.