You probably wouldn't think that tiny Noelville, west of Sturgeon Falls, is a hotbed of hot sauce...but it is.
Heather Dewey and Paul MacDonald are a husband and wife team that owns Lady Cobraa’s Hot Sauce, and it's one of the area's best-kept secrets.
"We started the business in Kawartha Lakes in a little town called Gooderham and only had two or three sauces and was going to a farmers' market in Kinmount. We lived there for five years then our landlord sold his property so we had to move, and there was no way I was moving back down south, so we ended up in Noelville," Dewey told BayToday from her booth at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto this week.
There, the couple came up with a bunch of new ideas for sauces, some hot some not.
"We have something for everyone and they've been very well received."
Hot sauce has always been an interest of the couple so they started growing hot peppers in 2014.
"After making a couple of sauces for family and friends the word got out. Our passion for unique specialty sauces became our life."
She tries to get ingredients locally, buys from local grocery stores, and only uses fresh ingredients with nothing artificial.
"All natural is our way, we think that choice is reflected in the quality of the end product.
"The actual peppers that I use are from a company in Kapuskasing called GhostPeppers.ca. I won't use any extracts, I will only use the peppers themselves."
Dewey says the secret to their sauces is knowing what ingredients go well together.
"It took a lot of research and a lot of trial and error for me to come up with these."
The company has a current line-up of 10 sauces, with a Scotch Bonnet called Nice & Naughty being the most popular with customers but another one is called Cobraa's Venom, which is the hottest one.
People either want the best tasting with a little bit of heat or the hottest I've got," she says with a smile.
Lady Cobraa's Hot Sauce has a booth at the Northern Ontario Pavilion, which is being funded by FedNor.
The Royal is celebrating its 100th anniversary and has grown to be the largest indoor agricultural and equestrian event in the world. It runs until November 13 at Exhibition Place.
Lady Cobraa's Hot Sauce is at 579 Houle Road in Noelville, (905-830-2639) and you can visit their website here.