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Miss Anna's Sauce Maker Wins Another International Award

Dec. 21, 2008 — For the second year in a row, Crucian Sauces — maker of the distinctively Caribbean, brutally hot but flavorful Miss Anna's Hot Pepper Sauce, seen all over St. Croix — has won a Scovie, the top international award in the world of fiery foods.
Last year the original Miss Anna's Hot Pepper Sauce, a recipe that dates back more than 100 years and four generations, won first place in the Authentic Caribbean Hot Sauce category. This year Miss Anna's Caribbean Shake won the first-place Scovie Award in the Condiment category for Best Table Seasoning.
More than 600 products from around the world competed for top honors. The Scovie Awards were created by Dave DeWitt, the nation's leading author on fiery cuisine and founder of the National Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show. The awards are named for Wilbur Scoville, who pioneered a rating scale for spicy foods. The Scovie Awards have become the industry standard for excellence in more than 60 categories of fiery foods. It is one of the world's most competitive gourmet-food competitions. In blind tastings, a panel of the country's top culinary experts sampled hundreds of the world's most-lauded gourmet foods before naming the winners. This year's entrants represent companies from 32 states and four countries.
Throughout the U.S., owners of boutique and gourmet shopping outlets and a small subculture of spicy-food aficionados follow and are influenced in their purchasing by the Scovies.
"We were thrilled to find out that we had won a first-place Scovie two years in a row, and we are happy to add the award to the rich culinary tradition that already exists in the U.S. Virgin Islands," said Clint Simon, Crucian Sauces food scientist, upon learning of the award.
The St. Croix company has been expanding its product line, and wants to buy as much local produce as possible, so farmers and gardeners take note: Crucian Sauces wants your habanero and Scotch bonnet peppers.
"Please, if you have habanero peppers to unload, please call us," Simon said. "Every single person I talk to who says, 'I grow,' I say, 'I take.' We have a scale at the site. Call us, leave a message and we'll put them on the scale and give you a price per pound. Cash if need be, and hand you a receipt."
But they must be habanero or their close relative, Scotch Bonnet peppers.
"There are lots of local spicy peppers," he said. "It's a nice pepper and we may see about coming up with a product, maybe a sweet hot sauce, using them, but for Miss Anna's original recipe, it's just the habaneros we need."
To meet their growing need for high-quality, fresh habaneros, Crucian Sauces has been working to develop relationships with several local farmers, including the V.I. Sustainable Farming Institute's Creque Dam Farm. But its demand continues to far outstrip the local supply. For more information, call the company at 340-719-6973. Miss Anna's Hot Sauce will be featured at the 20th annual National Fiery Foods & Barbeque show, Feb. 29 – March 2 in Albuquerque, N.M.
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