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Thorold’s ‘Gardenfather’ gets spicy with homemade hot sauce

Thorold resident Paul Carfagnini has become well known among family and friends for his famous homemade hot sauce; 'If you feel comfortable with it I think it can bring a lot of joy to your life'

It’s the spiciest time of the year for Thorold’s ‘Gardenfather’ Paul Carfagnini. His famous homemade hot sauce is finally ready to be shared with friends and family.

“It’s a good way to celebrate the Lord’s goodness,” says Carfagnini, in an interview with ThoroldToday. “He gives us nature, so what do we do with it? We got to show appreciation and celebrate it.”

To create his hot sauce, Carfagnini grows a variety of hot peppers in his garden.

“Some of this process starts as early as March,” Carfagnini says. “In my sunroom I start planting the different seeds that I have. Then they start to grow and hopefully they’re strong enough by late May. Then you have to have your soil ready, tilled and ready to plant.”

Having good soil is critical when growing your own vegetables, according to Carfagnini.

“That is the essential ingredient,” he says. “You have to feed the garden, through compost. When that soil is growing the vegetables, it’s taking nutrients that go into the vegetable. If you’re always drawing out from it, it weakens it. Now you got to put energy back into it and it’s a beautiful natural cycle.”

Working in the garden is a way to connect to his roots.

“I grew up in Thorold in an immigrant family from Italy,” Carfagnini says. “[My father] was growing tomatoes and eggplant. We would can the foods, for economics, but also in the ‘50s and ‘60s it was a little harder for the Italian families to find their foods.”

When the peppers are finally ripe, Carfagnini goes through the long process of making and fine-tuning his hot sauce so it has the perfect heat.

“You can add wine or add vinegar,” Carfagnini says. “You can add water but then it becomes flavourless. You’re not really enhancing it, you’re diluting it. You’re always looking for ways to not only bring it down but you’re adding an element to it to give it a nuance. It’s like music. When those instruments blend together it makes a beautiful sound.”

It’s important to Carfagnini that there is more complexity to his hot sauce than just heat.

“You have to be careful because not everybody’s palette or stomach can tolerate it,” he says. “If you feel comfortable with it I think it can bring a lot of joy to your life. It’s kind of like a weird thing where it’s stinging but then you want more. There’s something going on in your brain, almost like an endorphin, it becomes addictive.”

Hot sauce isn’t the only thing Carfagnini specializes in. He also spends time making his own grappa, wine, and tomato sauce.

“Tomato sauce is our go to,” Carfagnini says. “You can’t be an Italian, traditional family without making your own sauce. Our garage in September becomes like a factory, you got the assembly line going and it’s a whole process.”

Thorold residents hoping to have a taste of Carfagnini's famous hot sauce might be out of luck because he has no plans to start selling the sauce.

“I’m not trying to develop a brand,” he says. “I have given it out to my friends. I just like their feedback. We’re just having fun. Really celebrating God’s goodness giving us a wonderful Niagara harvest.”


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Bernard Lansbergen

About the Author: Bernard Lansbergen

Bernard was born and raised in Belgium but moved to Canada in 2012 and has lived in Niagara since 2020. Bernard loves telling people’s stories and wants to get to know those that make Thorold into the great place it is
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