Upstate Gold: Country Sweet Sauce

In honor of my impending visit to Rochester, N.Y., tomorrow afternoon, I thought I'd make special mention of perhaps the best sauce condiment on the planet. The supermarkets in Rochester are to me like a toy store might be to a collector. Living in New York City, we are hamstrung by grocery stores with little shelf space, the majority of that precious space being taken up by the endless General Mills, Kellogg's and P&G's of the world. Up in Rochester, the locals are fortunate to have such wonderful supermarkets as Wegmans, Martin's and Tops, all with wide aisles, lower prices and lots of interesting local fare, including Country Sweet Sauce. Since I like much of my condiments on the spicy side, I picked up a bottle of Country Sweet's hot variety which proved to be a good move. There's nothing like the combination of sweet and hot. This sauce tastes sweet to start, then kicks in at the end with just the right amount of heat. It's quite a versatile sauce as it can be used for cooking, marinating, barbecuing or even dipping. If you'd like to give it a try, you'll find it sold up in Rochester in at least one of the above-mentioned grocery stores. Additionally, it can be had by searching the internet as a few merchants do sell it online. Country Sweet is available in habanero and mild as well as hot. If you find yourself in the land of Kodak and Bausch & Lomb, you might want to check out the Country Sweet Chicken and Ribs restaurant and explore the restaurant's other offerings, including their breaded and fried chicken wings smothered in sweet spicy sauce. Sounds like a plan to me.