FIERY BITES
A LOCAL COOK’S POPULAR RECIPE BURNS SO GOOD.
Nikki Schroeder didn’t plan to put a mildly profane word in the name of her product line; she didn’t even plan to have a product line. She made a blend of fiery seasoning to put on her food at home, used it liberally at her weekly drop-in parties, and folks started asking for it.
“People would ask to take it with them or even call up and say, ‘Hey, can I come by and get a Baggie of your hot-ass seasoning?’ Everyone told me I was giving away a fortune,” she said.
About five years ago, she started packaging and selling it in mostly local stores.
One of her favorite recipes was “homemade” potato chips with her seasoning. Many home cooks looking for an easy take on a staple know the drill — buy a bag of your favorite plain potato chips, heat them in the oven and toss them with your own seasoning when they’re warm.
Schroeder did it for years, then, logically, started bagging her own just last year. Last week, she went from an order of 250 cases to 2,500 cases, or 120,000 bags of Nikki’s Hot A** Chips — the spelling modification comes with the new packaging.
“I have a Mac truck of chips waiting to be delivered,” she said. “A whole truck full.” But let’s back up. She’s no stranger to entrepreneurship. Schroeder was only 22 when she and business partner Teresa Andreuccetti opened Graffiti Graphics in 1987.
“We started out airbrushing Tshirts,” she said. “That was such a big deal.”
In 1991, they moved from a highrent district around Fox Plaza in Southeast Memphis to the converted apartment building they still occupy on Madison, just west of bustling Overton Square. They moved their business toward graphic design, and in 2000, started Jabberblabber magazine, a fun and colorful tabloid for children.
“For a while we had the Jabberblabber show on television, which was great,” Schroeder said. “It was kind of like a ‘ Laugh-In’ for kids.”
So Schroeder, 48, knew a bit about running a business, but was in her thirties before she started cooking.
“I just got interested, sort of in general, and it’s gotten to where, for literally every weekend for the past 10 years, if we’re in town, I stand on my feet and cook and make cocktails for 10 or 12 hours a day,” she said. “Anyone who wants to come by comes.”
Those parties led to the product line; the name was a natural because that’s what everyone was already calling it. The art for the packaging was another story. It’s a photo of Schroeder, her eyes wide and her mouth in a mock scream.
“We were just goofing around when we took this,” she said. “But we saw it and knew this was it. It’s not exactly a flattering picture of me, so it’s a good thing I’m not vain.”
One of her first stores was Miss Cordelia’s on Mud Island. Grocery manager Michael Butler says they sell like hot cakes at $ 4.99 for a 7- ounce bag.
“Just about every time I look over at the display I need to call her and ask for more,” he said. “I sell more of Nikki’s chips than I do of some Lay’s.”
The market for hot food is up. Specialty stores in malls and websites cater to folks who want to push the limit of how hot they can
I’ve only had one taster who told me they should be hotter, and I think he was showing off. Sure, we could make them hotter. But why?”
Nikki Schroeder
take their food. Last year pepper lovers howled when a California Sriracha plant was temporarily closed because of fumes that bothered neighboring residents. Consumers buy more salsa than ketchup, hot sauce sales have more than doubled — up 150 percent — since 2000, and producers are breeding peppers to near-unbearable heat levels.
Naga jolokia or ghost chili, widely credited to be the hottest pepper available (rated above one million units on the Scoville scale at chilliworld.com, but under challenge by the Carolina Reaper, a new cultivar that’s blowing out the Scoville index by reportedly measuring about 2 million units at peak levels), is one of the ingredients in Schroeder’s mix. By comparison, a jalapeño pepper tops out at 5,000 units and a habanero at around 325,000.
“I’ve only had one taster who told me they should be hotter, and I think he was showing off,” she said. “Sure, we could make them hotter. But why?”
Her business is booming. She’s in about 40 area locations and has a few in Nashville, but is hitting six states with the new truck load of chips. In a few weeks, two new products will be introduced: A personal-size bag of chips, and Nikki’s Hot A** Bloody Mary Mix, which will be distributed through Delta Wholesale and will be available in about 180 locations, including liquor stores after new laws come in effect July 1.
The mix is hiccup-inducing, but Schroeder swears it’s just right.
“We weren’t sure about the heat, but believe me, this is just perfect. By the time you put vodka and ice in it, it’s just right.”