I thought I knew hot peppers and hot sauce from my East Coast days. But moving to Arizona opened my eyes a little wider! Hot sauces are everywhere - in the markets, of course, but also on every restaurant table and in gift shops! The prime distinction seems to be heat. Any flavor distinctions are lost in the blinding flare of the pepper as it sears your taste buds and turns your sinuses into a human sprinkler system. I soon lost interest.

Then along came Cholula. She's a winsome senorita in a white shawl smiling at you from her window. She is surrounded by; yes a pepper plant, but also the tomato, the onion, and the garlic bulb - actual vegetable flavors! I saw her smiling down at me from the shelf in AJ ‘s Fine Foods. I was compelled to try just one more hot sauce. After so many disappointments, I'd found a hot sauce that actually flavored food and was itself edible instead of merely paralyzing!

Cholula is made in Mexico, tastes great and has this neat round wooden topper. What more could you ask in a red-hot sauce? Sprinkle it on your plate of eggs, your meat, and your salad. Work it into recipes instead of that other red pepper juice. If you like other condiments, try sprinkling a little Cholula into your mayonnaise, your ketchup, and your relish. You'll add heat, of course, but a flavorful warmth that adds to the other tastes instead of masking them.

Cholula stands out as one awesome hot sauce!

• I have no financial interest in Cholula - I'm just a fan.

• Sample with caution, it is, afterall, a hot sauce.