Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/08/24/watch-a-brief-history-of-srira.html
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Is it narrated by Werner Herzog? I only watch things narrated by Werner Herzog.
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SOOOOOOOO this video is still making the fundamental mistake of assuming Huy Fong is the original. Its already pretty well established the sriracha is a pre-existing sauce from Thailand, that was well established there and in Vietnam by the time Tran headed to the US. And multiple brands in Asia pre-date it. AFIAK Tran doesn’t even claim to have invented it.
So reporting that Tran invented it, in the US. Is an epic research fail.
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I finally tried some Huy Fong Sriracha earlier this year and was disappointed. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t particularly good either.
I should have learned by now that things that are hyped up are rarely as good as they are claimed to be.
Its kind of sweet and ketchupy in a weird way. And its heat is the stinging kind I dislike. I vastly prefer some of the Thai brands. Shark’s the big one, and there’s one with a baby on the label. They’re less sweat, have better more complex flavors, and tend toward a more balanced less “now my teeth hurt” kind of heat.
It’s really good when smartly incorporated into foods, i’ve had some food from places that were really damn great that used the sauce. When you add it to something as you would ketchup it doesn’t really bring much to the flavor… but as you said it’s ok.
I do keep a large bottle of it at home, but my main wish for is i’d like it to be hotter. I’m sure i could add chili oil to it to kick it up a few notches but i haven’t gotten around to buying some.
There are also recipes on how to make your own, and from what i’ve read the flavor is much better.
I double the sentiment on the fail there. But i think more interesting is Tran’s personal story of success and also his total indifference of making himself richer by expanding into more markets, trademarking his product, and raising prices. I read an interview where his main reason for not trademarking his product was because he was hoping other people would copy him, him being the more well known version gives him free advertising.
I love how this guy operates his business and he sounds very down to earth and intelligent.
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Well like I said Tran doesn’t seem to claim that he invented it, or even originated the name sriracha. He likely could have trade marked it either way, because in the US it wasn’t a thing. And his story is genuinely inspiring, and his business genuinely interesting. It seems that most coverage of the guy and the sauce (as with this video). Simply assume, or state that he invented it because it fits that inspiring success story more. But it has the unfortunate effect of assuming/claiming that a well established piece of Vietnamese and Thai cuisine is American in origin. That sure Asians made spicy sauce, but noone made the best most successful spicy sauce until this one guy came to America and embarked on a Horatio Alger trope.
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