Karmakazi Hot Sauce

If you love eating chili-rich spicy foods, there is evidence that adding a kick to your meals may be linked to longer life. That is a refreshing thought given the amount of hot sauce my family consumes. In our home you will rarely find a saltshaker on the table, instead there’s a jar of homemade hot sauce; and I have been known to carry a small bottle in my bag (I’m in good company, so does Beyoncé!). Store-bought hot sauce can be chock full of additives, cancer-causing dyes and artificial ingredients topped with a heaping amount of sodium, which is why I love finding great hot sauce recipes like this one from Anamaya, a resort in Costa Rica.

Anamaya is Sanskrit for “good health” and at the core of the Anamaya diet is lots of raw food, plenty of protein and healthy fats, minimal processing, lots of fruit, veggies, and whole grains—so much like my own diet, including their commitment to include only a minimal amount dairy and seafood. They do not use white sugar, ever, and are 100% gluten-free.  Those are two items I am still working on at home.

Anamaya grows much of their own produce and when chef Jeffrey Horton is cooking, he loves working with organic and local ingredients, and takes pride in his made-from-scratch meals, no shortcuts. When we visited, chef Jeff put out a squeeze bottle of his Karmakazi Hot Sauce every day on the breakfast and lunch buffets. Guests, our family included, poured it over eggs, added it to stir-fries and tacos, and just about everything else. It is perhaps the most requested recipe at Anamaya!

Yield: Makes 3 Cups