Alma Eno had no choice but to appreciate hot sauce while growing up in Somalia.
It was non-negotiable given the peppery condiment’s omnipresence on Somali dinner tables. It was also inevitable given Eno preferred being in a kitchen at a young age to going outdoors to play with her siblings.
“In our house, it was mandatory to love hot sauce,” Eno recalled. “You kind of start by accident; you’re eating with your mom and dad and your hand goes to where there’s hot sauce, and you taste it. I tasted it and it wasn’t too hot so I continued to eat it.”
These days, the Welland resident also continues to make it — and not just for her family. Eno bottles three different styles of hot sauce under her Cimra Sauces label, some of it inspired by her birth nation, and all of it by her adoration of the fiery meal accompaniments. She sells it Saturdays at the St. Catharines Farmers Market, and currently online through openfoodnetwork.ca, with plans to get Cimra Sauces on store shelves in the near future.