Fire & Freedom: The Hot Sauce Challenge

Not for the faint-hearted, the Hot Sauce Challenge organized by USDA and Urban Platter at the swanky new Ballard Pier was a first-of-its-kind event that “burned” the house down. American ingredients were blended with Indian spices to create some flavourful sauces with the potential to hit the shelves at Urban Platter’s online stores. A limited-edition hot sauce, doesn’t get better than that!

All part of the 250-year-celebration of the US Independence, influencers and home chefs from all over Bombay were invited to participate in the Hot Sauce Challenge and present their sauce to the judges. The winners were chosen based on creativity, application of ingredients and heat units on the Scoville Scale, of course! Some of the contestants were home chefs Bilkis Khan and Daugdo Ragina, Co-founder of Kaatil Hot Sauce Sagar Merchant, influencers Batul Munim, Jaya Jain and Maria Motiwala, Chef Shaheen Patrwala and others. 

Chef Michael Swamy compered the event and held the audience in captivation as he announced the winner. Vijeta Gawdi, CEO of Handful of Health, it is! Her curry-inspired hot sauce featuring American-grown ingredients like pecans, cashews, cranberries and blueberries paired with traditional Indian masalas was hot stuff, indeed. Think blueberries meet coriander, pecans meet Guntur chillies and so on. 

Host Chef Michael Swamy with judges Chirag Kenia, US Consul General Mumbai Yuriy Fedkiw, Nicole Podesta, Chef Vijayenndra Pawaskar, Chef Yogesh Utekar, Anshul Ambani

The judges consisted of culinary experts and industry representatives tasked with tasting, rating and crowning a winner. The US Consul General of Mumbai, Yuriy Fedkiw, Nicole Podesta (Chief, Foreign Agricultural Service), Chirag Kenia (Founder, Urban Platter), Anshul Ambani (Founder, Jnana Farms), Chef Yogesh Utekar (Principal of Ramanath Payyade College of Hospitality Management Studies) and Chef Vijayenndra Pawaskar (Founder, Chef Decoded) had to choose from 15 competitors who were given ingredients such as U.S. Blueberries, US Cranberries, American Pistachios, American Pecans and Washington Apples. Bringing the OGs of hot sauce to the event were Tabasco, McCormick & Company, United Distributors Inc. (UDI) and the Southern United States Trade Association (SUSTA). Vinod Cookware, Curaa and Jñ?na Farms provided top-tier kitchen gear and mushrooms, while premium water brand VEEN was helped cool down the fiery palates. 

Chef Yogesh Utekar said of the event, “Judging the event was a very good experience. It was well-curated and strengthens Indo-US collaborations further.” 

While we, with our feeble taste buds, would dare try a dab of the hot sauces created by the contestants, Mr Yuriy Fedkiw, was enjoying the heat and even did a little jig to show his enthusiasm.