Mixing sweet with heat: West Palm eateries team up to bottle Mango Habanero hot sauce

Mixing sweet with heat, there is some serious collaboration going down along the Dixie Corridor in West Palm Beach.

Tropical Smokehouse and Celis Juice Bar have teamed up to create  their own signature Mango Habanero hot sauce. Bottled and ready as of this week, this sauce promises to elevate everything from barbecue to breakfast sandwiches straight to flavor paradise.

Celis Juice Bar owner Alejandro Celis said he first met the owners of Tropical Smokehouse, Jason Lakow and chef Rick Mace, several years ago after he began stopping in at their restaurant on Wednesday evenings.

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Celis said he had started a running group that still meets on Wednesday nights and that afterwards they almost always go to Tropical Smokehouse for dinner.

Several months ago,  Smokehouse co-owner and chef Rick Mace reached out to Celis and proposed teaming up on a signature sauce.

Because mango season had begun, they settled on the tasty tropical fruit base and began planning.

Friends with the owner of a nearby farm, Celis contacted Alexander Salazar of Tropical Acres Farms in West Palm Beach to supply the mangoes and used his own family connections to import the habanero peppers from the Dominican Republic.

Armed with eight varieties of mangoes from the farm, ranging in taste from sweet to sour to floral, and habaneros from the Caribbean island, chef Rick Mace got to work.

The process included making a mash of the mangoes, habaneros and salt to begin a process of fermentation rather that souring.

Roughly two weeks later, cider vinegar, distilled vinegar and a few other ingredients were added to the mix. A bit of sugar  added at the end to bring out the sweetness of the mangoes, and magic was made. Thenbottled.

The resulting goodness is now available for purchase at both Tropical Barbecue and at Celis Juice Bar, with locations on both Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach and Royal Poinciana Plaza in Palm Beach. The tasty topping is also on the tables and counters at both eateries for their dine-in customers.

Celis said the sauce has a nice kick, but also a great balance.

Chef Mace said he likes it on their chicken and salmon; but then, he said, "it's pretty much good on everything."

Eddie Ritz is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He has lived in the West Palm Beach area for more than 30 years and, from mild to wild, will cover noteworthy community happenings. You can reach him at [email protected]. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Tropical Smokehouse, Celis Juice Bar cook up an bottle new hot sauce