McIlhenny's Gold: How a Louisiana Family Built the Tabasco Empire [Paperback]

In this fascinating history, Jeffrey Rothfeder tells how, from a simple idea—the outgrowth of a handful of peppers planted on an isolated island on the Gulf of Mexico—a secretive family business emerged that would produce one of the best-known products in the world.

A delectable and satisfying read for both Tabasco fans and business buffs,McIlhenny's Goldis the untold story of the continuing success of an eccentric, private company; a lively history of one of the most popular consumer products of all times; and an exploration of our desire to test the limits of human tolerance for fiery foods.

[T]he history of Tabasco and its creators, the McIlhenny family, makes for a spicy&tale, and Jeffrey Rothfeder serves it up nicely.[T]he unembellished saga of the McIlhenny clan is a tale that needs no seasoning.[B]alanced and always entertaining.These days, Tabasco is nearly as ubiquitous as butter and as quotidian as salt and pepper-and this book chronicles that progression in equal parts business story and Faulknerian family saga.Rothfeder manages to tell a compelling story of single-minded product marketing, Southern social history and slavery, and the challenges endemic to all family firms.From its legendary invention in the months after the Civil War, to the carefully guarded recipe and production and the tightly controlled employees town in the Louisiana swamps, Rothfeder looks at the extraordinary journey of a family from rags to riches.