We've had a lot of rain the last two days. We'd planned to take the Creoel Nature Trail in the Louisiana's Outback yesterday, but it rained so much we decided driving around in the swamp probably wasn't too smart. We had a down day, where I did mirrors, our motorhome has many and scrubbed the floors. Not too exciting but someone has to do it. Wonder if my cleaning lady from California would like to fly in to clean every once in a while, at her expense of course. Today we went to Avery Island.
From pepper pods obtained shortly after the Civil War, Edmund McIlhenny cultivated a crop, invented a product, and founded a company. You'll know it as Tabasco Pepper Sauce.
We started at the Welcome Center. I thought this crest was interesting. It says, " By Appointment to her majesty Queen Elizabeth II supplier of Tabasco Sauce McIlhenny Company USA."
Bob has always been a fan.
Seeds from plants grown on the Island are exported to Central and South America, where tabasco peppers are cultivated and harvested at the peak of their ripeness.
Each January, seeds of special capsicum peppers are planted in greenhouses; seedlings are transplanted to the fields in April. By August, the peppers reach just the right shade of red and are handpicked. Newly harvested peppers are mashed at the factory with a little Avery Island salt. The mash ferments and ages for three years in white oak barrels.
Finally, the aged mash is mixed with special premium vinegar, stirred for a month, strained, and poured into slim bottles. All the sauce is bottled at the Avery Island Factory.
We visited the Country Store. They had 7 different Tabasco Pepper Sauces, Tabasco pop, garlic spreed, and on and on and on......
After our visit to Avery Island, we went into the city of Iberia, LA. We visited the Konriko Country Store.
Founder Phillip Conrad, Sr. built the Conrad Rice Mill in 1912. We came at a wrong time for the tour, but the ladies in the store were entertaining and worth the trip into town.
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