Formerly Gigi's Kitchen Vancouver BC since 2017 / Now Gilo Foods - Aliments Gilo QC
My family immigrated from Hong Kong to Vancouver B.C. over 25 years ago in 1994 where I worked in the hospitality industry for 18 years. Growing up in and around Vancouver in a major cultural hub and Canada’s doorway to Asia has provided me with almost infinite access to authentic cuisines from around the world. Living in such a great foodie town, equipped with my typically Chinese appetite to sample as many dishes as possible and my insatiable love of hot sauce has turned me into an avid foodie. I use hot sauce on almost everything daily.
In 2010, I met the man who would become my husband and partner in crime to this day. He is of French-Canadian heritage adding yet another layer of access to all things food related. Since we met, we have travelled extensively, sampling all manners of cuisines and spices from around the world.
One of our favorite destinations has been Panama in central America. So far, we’ve been to Panama 3 times for weeks at a time. Panama is a beautiful breath-taking country, uniquely located geographically with short distance access to both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts by land, air and sea via the famous Panama Canal. As such Panama has become a very diverse multicultural hub unlike any other in the region. This makes Panama a very rich culinary space with influences and fusion dishes from around the world. One thing you will almost always find on any table in a local Panamanian eatery is a house made bottle of hot sauce. One evening the hot sauce was so good I had to ask if it would be possible to get the recipe. Our gracious host went to the kitchen and brought back a handwritten recipe from the owner’s grandmother.
I am sure you can guess; this was to be the beginning of a new adventure. I brought back the recipe to Canada and transformed it to use readily available local Canadian ingredients while staying as close as possible to the original. Many iterations and samplings later with friends, family, and food industry experts we finally arrived at our goal. A warm, medium hot, sweet and spicy Habanero hot sauce which easily pairs with almost any dish, but most importantly, one that brings us back to the to those delicious meals by the beach and luscious Panama rainforests.
That brings us to the design and presentation which we felt should reflect the recipes origins and stand out from the crowd. On its own our sauce already stands apart by its bright yellow color and we didn’t want to lose that brightness in our label. Meet our lovely sloth baby, rendered as a drawing from a picture we took at Red Frog Beach, Bastimentos Island, Panama. We encountered the little creature at an eco-lodge just outside our room nested on a hill in the island’s jungle, climbing down a tree. We were told he was a young boy, around 2 years old judging by the size and the markings. He is probably the cutest thing we’ve ever seen, ever!
Gilo Foods, formerly Gigi’s Kitchen was born in Vancouver, BC in 2017 and is now operating from its new home in Gatineau (Aylmer), QC. We feel this is an ideal location located right at the Quebec and Ontario border near the city of Ottawa.
Thank you for your interest. We LOVE our Hot Sauce and we think you will too!
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