One thing you might not know about me is I am an absolute fiend for hot sauce!

It all started because my dad is a total spice-head so I had to learn how to enjoy spicy foods. Then, my friends also are hot sauce lovers. So much so we all love to just sit around and watch various episodes of First We Feast's YouTube show "Hot Ones." 

That's why whenever I see anything about a new hot sauce, ESPECIALLY a Michigan-made one my ears perk up and that's exactly what happened when I found this story on MLive. 

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It all started with four college students at the University of Michigan, MLive reports, who were increasingly unsatisfied with cheaper, big hot sauce brands and decided to create their own. Thus, Bombanana was born.

Jared Schacter, one of the roommates as well as CEO and co-founder was writing his senior thesis on the history of fine dining so it is safe to say he knows food!

"It’s college, and everyone eats a lot of hot sauce because it’s cheap, and it can improve flavor," Schacter told MLive. "But it really bothered me because I felt there wasn’t a big hot sauce that spoke to the values and flavors that I wanted, especially in the depth of flavor."

 

Basically, he wanted a hot sauce that would add to the dining experience versus detracting from it which is something a lot of hot sauce lovers look for!

You can check out the whole team's story as well as their timeline of success HERE.

Through lots of interesting research and science on flavor pairings, how to give peppers their "kick" and finally stumbling upon the "eureka moment" of using bananas in the sauce recipes, the gang was able to create the special sauce that is Bombanana.

So why bananas?

Well, to keep it simple, MLive consulted dietician, chef and Secchia Institute for Culinary Education in Grand Rapids' adjunt nutrition instructor, Jenn Fillenworth.

"Bananas have an excellent natural sweetness, but also a slight acidity to help round out spice from the chilies." Fillenworth said. "I can’t help but think how well-balanced the flavor profile will be."

Now, what started as experimenting to find the perfect hot sauce recipe, Bombanana is now available at over 30 select grocery stores across four states. One of them, of course, being Michigan!

MLive shares each sauce retails for $7.99 and if you can't find any at a store near you, you can also order online and learn more at seekthespice.com.

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