April 24, 2008 Maine hot sauce maker takes top prize Play video

(Marnie MacLean, NECN: Maine) - A hot sauce maker from Maine went home with the top prize at a Louisiana festival. NECN's Marnie MacLean has the story.

Script:

At W.O. Hespers in Portland, Maine, Dan Stevens is the chief cook and bottle washer...literally. Dan started making hot sauces in his kitchen ten years ago...and now, his original recipe has won top honors at the Cajun Hot Sauce Festival in Louisiana.

Stevens: "That award went to Tabasco last year..and their factory is in the neighborhood. It's nice to beat the big boys now and then."

And beat them in their own backyard. Dan started making the sauces as an activity to do with his three kids. The hobby turned into a business and now, he has twenty sauces....but it's the first one he ever made...called Canceaux sauce that got folks in Louisiana talking.

The sauce is named for a British ship that burned Portland back in 1775. Dan tells you, it starts sweet...then you taste the garlic.

Apparently a lot of other folks think so too. Dan’s sauces have taken home over fifty awards over the years, yet, he has resisted the temptation to go big. He still makes each batch by hand.

He is also in charge of shipping. His boxes make their way around the country and the world to people who can’t live without their hot sauce.

"I have people call me and email me saying they are looking for a 12 step program..they are addicted to it."

With thousands of people across the

country making hot sauce, what is it about Dan’s sauces that make it so unique? A secret ingredient of course, in this case, is Maine Seaweed.

Dan collects it himself from a local beach....making it hard for others to duplicate his concoctions. The folks down south sure seem to like what he's doing.