Category Archives: Interviews

Purveyors of some of the mightiest wing sauces on the planet and mainstays at hot sauce trade shows, Defcon Sauces owners John “The Creator” Dilley and his wife Maggie “The Createss” have racked up an impressive array of awards for their fiery products and have become a cult chilehead favorite. Eat some wings with a generous coating of one of their unique Defense Condition sauces and it’s highly likely they’ll become one of your favorites, too.

I recently asked John some questions and he didn’t disappoint as he responded in his usual humorous and eloquent way about a variety of topics. Continue reading →

Whether or not you’re a fan of his products, you have to admit that few people have had the impact and garnered a cult-like following quite like Blair Lazar of Blair’s Sauces and Snacks. I was recently given the opportunity to have an extended conversation with Blair, and he was candid, gushingly accommodating and extremely passionate as we spoke. We touched on several topics, including his reserves (which struck a nerve when I mentioned some were critical of the prices for which they were being sold), being on the internet, his collaboration with rock guitarist Zakk Wylde on the Berserker Sauces, and the fiery foods business. Continue reading →

Interview with Dave Hirschkop of Dave’s Gourmet

Dave’s Insanity Sauce has the notoriety of not only once being the hottest sauce in the world in the 1990s, but it’s probably currently the most famous specialty hot sauce known by non-chileheads. Folks who aren’t heat freaks may be able to rattle off three or four “supermarket” pepper sauces like Frank’s, Tapatio or Tabasco, but when you press them about giving an example of a super-hot condiment, chances are they’ll name Dave’s Insanity more often than any other sauce.

It’s this distinction and mystique about Insanity Sauce that’s kept Dave near or at the top of the fiery foods game for over 15 years. But Dave’s Gourmet is far more than just their flagship product; Hirschkop’s company offers many other fine pepper sauces, plus pasta sauces, drink mixes, condiments, spicy snacks and more.

I was recently given the chance to speak with Dave to ask him a few questions. One might have expected a wild, gregarious man who once regularly wore a straightjacket to food shows and on the cover of his cookbook, Crazy from the Heat. Instead, Dave proved to be a genial, mild-mannered fellow. After talking with him, I was given the impression that Dave would rather focus on making his company a diverse brand of gourmet food products (“more of a Trader Joe’s or Paul Newman’s” in his words) than just being makers of scorchingly hot products, something that would differentiate himself from peers such as Blair’s of CaJohn’s. Continue reading →