Like most Torontonians that have a taste for heat, it really has been slim pickings. Either you shop on-line, lucky enough to have a grocery store that carries outside the norm sauces, or you were off to Ottawa (Chilly Chillies). While there has been small mall vendors that has carried a wider range of sauces, the're stores/karts usally lasted a few months at best.
So it came with great surprise that I found out about a vendor that just so happens to reside inside The St. Lawrence Market, THE very place I go to do all my weekly shopping. How could I have missed this place before???
Well... located in the lower north west section of the market, it really is easy to walk on by without giving the place a second glance. In fact, if wasn't for the fact I had a purpose on finding this guy, I wouldn't have ever entered that store. Your first glance has you looking into coolers stocked with all kinds of stuff. Lining the entrance there are gourmet sauces & oils, salsa's..ect, that is when you get your first sight of the hot sauces. Tucked away in the corner of the store you see a shelving unit with some sauces. Making your way over to that shelf is when the store opens up & you find a hole other section lined with all kinds of hot sauces.
The selection is pretty standard for a hot shop, but seeing as these shops are as rare as hen's teeth, it was MOST welcome.
Pain Is Good, Iguana, Melindas, Blairs...ect all lined the shelves. In all I would say a good 150 to 200 sauces stacked the shelves. Hell they even had some of the more insane sauces, Mad Dogs 357, Da Bomb, Black Mamba.
Now pricing is all over the map. Most sauces are in the $6-10 range. From there they start going up to a max of $35 (if I remember correctly), it's not that the're expensive, but there seems to be no flow in terms of pricing or heat index(aside from the insane sauces, seperate cabnet).
If you are ever in Toronto and are in need of a fix, I recomend you try this place. While your at it give the market a try, some great food to be had.
http://www.stlawrencemarket.com/
So it came with great surprise that I found out about a vendor that just so happens to reside inside The St. Lawrence Market, THE very place I go to do all my weekly shopping. How could I have missed this place before???
Well... located in the lower north west section of the market, it really is easy to walk on by without giving the place a second glance. In fact, if wasn't for the fact I had a purpose on finding this guy, I wouldn't have ever entered that store. Your first glance has you looking into coolers stocked with all kinds of stuff. Lining the entrance there are gourmet sauces & oils, salsa's..ect, that is when you get your first sight of the hot sauces. Tucked away in the corner of the store you see a shelving unit with some sauces. Making your way over to that shelf is when the store opens up & you find a hole other section lined with all kinds of hot sauces.
The selection is pretty standard for a hot shop, but seeing as these shops are as rare as hen's teeth, it was MOST welcome.
Pain Is Good, Iguana, Melindas, Blairs...ect all lined the shelves. In all I would say a good 150 to 200 sauces stacked the shelves. Hell they even had some of the more insane sauces, Mad Dogs 357, Da Bomb, Black Mamba.
Now pricing is all over the map. Most sauces are in the $6-10 range. From there they start going up to a max of $35 (if I remember correctly), it's not that the're expensive, but there seems to be no flow in terms of pricing or heat index(aside from the insane sauces, seperate cabnet).
If you are ever in Toronto and are in need of a fix, I recomend you try this place. While your at it give the market a try, some great food to be had.
http://www.stlawrencemarket.com/