The inmates had been growing hot peppers as part of a horticulture program at the jail for about a year when one of them made a suggestion to make it into a sauce
Allen Boatman, the horticulture program's director, agreed it would be a good idea, and residents of the Falkenburg Road Jail in Brandon are now the proud makers of Jailhouse Fire hot sauce.
"The food here is kind of institutionalized, so it helps," Boatman said.
Boatman and his students spent two years perfecting the recipe, a hybrid of a Caribbean-style hot sauce and a mustard sauce. They recently produced their first batch, 96 5-ounce bottles that sell for $3.25 each. The revenue goes back to the inmate canteen fund and to culinary and horticulture programs for inmates.
Priority customers like Sheriff David Gee have already bought half of the first batch.
By next year, Boatman hopes to sell Jailhouse Fire to the general public through an Internet-based distributor.
The sauce is made from a mixture of several varieties of herbs and hot peppers, all grown on more than 6 acres behind the jail. Among the peppers are habaneros, scotch bonnets and jalapenos.
Inmates say they prefer their own version of Jailhouse Fire, which is considerably hotter than what they sell for mass consumption.
"It's a macho thing," Boatman said. "You know, `I can eat the hottest pepper.'"
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Sounds like good stuff.
