Taste this: Traditional spicy bowls can be assembled and served many ways in your kitchen or ordered from home-based chefs in the Akron and Cleveland areas.
Creator: Spicy bowls originated in cities in Southern Florida, specifically Miami and Tampa. They can also be traced to convenience stores in cities throughout Broward County in Southeast Florida. Independent cooks, food trucks and drive-thrus use common base ingredients in the bowls but introduce their own twists, making each one different.
What makes them special: The traditional spicy bowl is liquid dip that includes tangy ingredients like jalapenos, hamburger dill pickles, pepperoncini, eggs (pickled or not), pickled sausages, hot sauce and a seasoning mix. Depending on the creator, the bowl can be a runny or a thicker dip with seafood like crab, shrimp and crawfish tails.
Eye test: After going viral twice since 2022, what stands out the most to skeptical but interested foodies is the color of the bowl and the ingredients packed into a serving. The bowl can be a deep orange-red color, depending on the seasonings used, or a lighter yellow color. The pickled ingredients sit at the top of the bowl, depending on how you shake it.
Process: For a traditional spicy bowl, you’ll separate the brines from each of the pickled items into a bowl, then add your seasonings and choice of hot sauce to the liquid bowl. Shake it up. In a separate bowl, add your pickled items, eggs and sausage.
Here’s the full list of ingredients we used to D.I.Y. our own:
- Jalapenos
- Hamburger dill pickle chips
- Banana peppers
- Pepperoncinis
- Louisiana Brand Hot Sauce
- Vegetable broth
- Crushed red pepper flakes
- Tonys Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning
- Cayenne pepper
- (1) Big Mama Pickled Sausage
- (2) Hard-boiled eggs
- Ruffles potato chips, cheddar and sour cream flavor
Pairs with: No matter if it’s a traditional, seafood or chicken spicy bowl, each bowl comes with a bag of cheddar and sour cream Ruffles potato chips to dip in the bowl or to pile the ingredients onto. The chips add a crunch to each bite. Some creators and reviewers have paired it with nacho cheese-flavor Doritos.
“Taste This” is our glimpse of the Akron area’s tastiest, distinctive and popular (or soon-to-be-famous) food, drinks and desserts — and the local culinary talents behind them. Tough job, we know. Know any menu items we should consider? Tell us here.
How to D.I.Y: For visual learners, there is a Facebook live recap available to watch the Signal Akron staff assembling and chatting about spicy bowls. You can also find step-by-step tutorials online.
Here are directions, step by step:
- Drain equal parts of the brine from each pickled item into a bowl.
- Add seasoning mix to liquid bowl. Mix.
- Slice eggs or leave whole if preferred. Add eggs to liquid. Allow a few minutes to marinate.
- Add pickled sausage, jalapenos, banana peppers, pepperoncinis, hamburger dill pickle chips to a separate bowl.
- Pour brine and seasoning mixture over pickled items. Mix.
- Serve cold with a bag of Ruffles cheddar and sour cream chips.
How to buy: A few local home cooks sell spicy bowls (or a version of them). Like Treats2Sweet in Cleveland, who offers sausage, double or triple meat spicy bowls starting at $18. Having a spicy bowl shipped directly from Florida is an option too through Z’s Spicy Bowls, starting at $12.
