Smaak makes a range of Dutch-inspired hot sauce.

Smaak is hot sauce that emphasizes flavor over fire. Each of our sauces highlights a different pepper, pairs wonderfully with food, and gives back to the communities the peppers came from.

It was started by two friends, Katie and Vikram, who love food. Katie’s family experimented with her Oma’s recipes for nasi goreng, meatball soup, and even homemade Irish cream — evolving and making them their own in the process. Vikram’s parents brought all their recipes from home—like mango pickle, chai spice, and rotli—and mixed them with the new foods in the US.

The two friends were always sharing food—swapping jars of pickles like Katie’s dad cucamelons for Vikram’s mom’s green tomato pickle. But why only swap food between two people, when there were so many flavors that could be shared with folks around the world?

Our first stop is hot sauce: an entire aisle known for its heat and thin red color. It lacks flavor, pop, punch and yummy-factor. There seems to be limited choices: hot, hotter than hot, burn your mouth off hot... none of it reflects the diversity of ingredients and flavor that need to come with that heat. Thus Smaak was born—bringing spice to the forefront and giving back to the communities that first grew our peppers.

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