DESTINATIONS LOUISIANA THE US


LEFT: Atchafalaya Basin Bridge


and gaze over the gardens, where winding pathways weave past pepper plant-filled warehouses and beautiful red-brick buildings. In the museum are collections


of rare Tabasco-themed merchandise (including skis, a Tabasco Barbie and a Tabasco surfboard) alongside interactive exhibits. Family tree charts show how, even today, it’s a family affair – executive senior vice- president Harold ‘Took’ Osborn is the great-great-grandson of founder Edmund McIlhenny. Every bottle is still produced


style buildings and rippling fields of golden corn. Regular stops for pickle-juice refreshment keep me hydrated until I arrive back at the brewery and can indulge in something a little stronger.


w THE SPICE OF LIFE It isn’t long before I’m imbibing once again. Tabasco, the world’s


biggest hot-sauce brand, turns 150 this year and its headquarters, parts of which are open to the public, can be found on Avery Island, a short drive from Lafayette. Inside Restaurant 1868, the


queue for the DIY bloody mary bar stretches towards the door, so I take my tipple onto the porch


here (700,000 a day, to be precise) and the displays of Tabasco-branded products sold worldwide are pretty wide- ranging: there are Tabasco crisps, cooking oil, chocolate, barbecue wood chips and spam. “We’ve been working on a Tabasco soda for years!” Osborn says. In the blending room, I watch the sauce being prepared and


press a button to send a blast of pepper-scented air into the viewing area. The gift shop is an attraction in itself: there are Tabasco babygros, T-shirts (for humans and dogs) and Tabasco jam, chocolate and ice cream. Craving some Tabasco time


out, I stroll over to the nearby Jungle Gardens. McIlhenny was passionate about nature and wanted to create a retreat for employees (many lived on-site) and migratory birds. Today, the semi-tropical gardens cover 170 acres. There are lily pad-filled swamps overshadowed by cypress trees draped with Spanish moss, and an enormous Buddha that is blessed by a monk every year. As I pass, I’m sure I can smell the spicy scent of an incense stick, but then I notice that the wind is blowing in my direction and realise it’s probably just Tabasco sauce.


60 travelweekly.co.uk 5 July 2018


PICTURE: SHUTTERSTOCK


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