Recently we have been spending the days going through art, photos, and memories of travel . Last year we visited Lincoln, NM on our way to Pie Town. Bruce painted this shortly afterwards.
One of our favorite travel tales is from years back as we were heading to and from visiting Royal Robertson in Baldwin, Louisiana. We made this trip often and always added in a new dive restaurant, zydeco club, or sausage maker visit. We had heard about the amazing gumbo at the Pig Stand in Villa Platte and sure enough it did not disappoint, but what was even more outstanding was the Ortego Hot Sauce on the table. It was the best of tabasco type vinegar based sauce, but not as salty and had flavor galore.
We quickly asked where we might acquire some of the Ortego hot sauce and we were told “next door”. We went next door and saw it was an auto parts store so surely we got it wrong. We inquired again and it was confirmed that yes the sauce was indeed sold off a back shelf in the auto parts store.
The neighborhood was enamoured with our interest in the sauce and called Mr. Ortego to come up and meet us where we could buy a case of the sauce like a drug deal out of the trunk of his car.
Mr. Ortego was a jolly older fella who valued the secret of his sauce and took it with him to his grave a number of years later after we had many of the same trunk case sales. He said many had tried to buy his secrets.
Mr. Ortego claimed to have grown 2 kinds of peppers and along side with a rusty blender and 2 old uncles, the magic occurred in the Ortego Hot Sauce.