Buffalo may have popularized hot sauce, but Long Island is perfecting it.
That’s according to Michael Terrone, founder of Long Island Pepper Company (LIPC) – and hundreds of patrons from the Riverhead Ciderhouse this summer may agree. Terrone, originally from Kingston but now a longtime Dix Hills resident, always grew hot peppers in his garden, and enjoyed testing out different recipes with them.
“I said, ‘What am I going to do with these hot peppers?’” Terrone told the Press. “I decided to make hot sauce. I’ve been doing this for about six or seven years. I decided to turn it into a business, because I had so many people requesting that I make sauces for them.”
In 2023, Terrone underwent the usual process of getting any food-related business started: FDA approval, and creating an LLC. The business launched as a table at the Riverhead Ciderhouse this May with four hot sauces: Blueberry Carolina Reaper, Mango Ghost Pepper, Papaya Carolina Reaper, and Pineapple Mango Habanero Sauce.
“I love the place,” Terrone said of the Ciderhouse. “It’s a family-oriented place. I love the clientele because of that. And our sauce goes well on the food there – the giant pretzels, and they also have wings and pizza there.”
Their residency at the Ciderhouse is set to last until December, although with the success of the business, Terrone anticipates it’ll last longer.
“They actually sell it in their store now,” Terrone said.
LIPC also sells their hot sauces at the farm stand on Deer Park Avenue, and was recently approved to sell them at Taste New York at the Long Island Welcome Center on the Long Island Expressway.
Terrone is proud to say that LIPC is a true Long Island company; the peppers are grown at his home in Dix Hills, and his labeling and packaging is done by C & C Bindery in Farmingdale – and they have plans to work with farms in the Dix Hills area to expand the pepper-growing aspect of the operation.
It’s a family-run business; Terrone, his wife Susan, and their children Christian and Natalie all contribute.
Business has been booming since their May launch, and Terrone says the future looks bright for LIPC.
“Everybody who tries the sauce ends up buying it,” Terrone said. “They’re flavor-based, fruit-based sauces that go well with a lot of different things. The blueberry sauce goes well with salads. The mango habanero is great on seafood and chicken. I recommend putting the papaya on oysters.”
Customers can look forward to a fifth sauce coming out soon – which Terrone labels as extreme – called Dragon’s Blood.
If you are unable to visit Long Island Pepper Company at their Riverhead Ciderhouse table, you can buy their products or contact them at longislandpeppercompany.com.
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