Hoboken Eddie's famous BBQ sauce begins in Warwick

WARWICK — Visit supermarkets, grocery stores and restaurants throughout the United States and you’re bound to come across the award winning Hoboken Eddie’s BBQ or other sauces made from fresh herbs and spices. What may surprise some readers is that many of the assorted fresh hot peppers used in Hoboken Eddie’s nationally known sauces are grown right here in Warwick in a garden behind the home of Edmund McCarthy, who is also known as “Hoboken Eddie.” Long before moving to Warwick in 2002, McCarthy was a master chef, certified caterer and also teacher at the French Culinary Institute in New York City. In 1994, he opened a small restaurant, “Hoboken Eddies” in Hoboken, N.J., where he began serving his homemade sauce. Then one night, he and his staff began bottling the popular sauce for distribution. And in 2000, Hoboken Eddie closed his restaurant and devoted all his time marketing this successful product. “When I first started,” said McCarthy, “I was in 40 stores. Now I’m in over 40 states as well as overseas.” Chef Ed, as he is also known, resisted overtures by larger food manufacturers to produce his sauces on the assembly line. “I never wanted to produce something that people can just buy anywhere,” he said. “My sauce is homemade from fresh peppers, not hot-laced vinegar.” McCarthy currently produces his sauces at two locations, one in Madison, Indiana, and another in Poughkeepsie. But he still boasts that his sauces are all made with fresh, all-natural ingredients mixed with a secret formula of herbs and spices. None contain animal products, fats, oils or artificial preservatives. And if you like hot sauce, one of McCarthy’s favorite peppers, grown in his Warwick garden, is the extremely hot Orange Habanero. That may be why, in addition to many other awards, Hoboken Eddie’s took first place in Chile Pepper Magazine’s prestigious Fiery Food Challenge. “My homegrown hot sauce,” he said, “is for someone who asks, ‘What’s the hottest you have?’” McCarthy’s current goal is to get his hot sauces into as many restaurants and pubs as possible. Here in Warwick, for example, they are featured at a number of select restaurants and markets including ShopRite, Pennings, the Blarney Stone, Café A La Mode and Guy’s among others. McCarthy, who has always been a hands-on entrepreneur, frequently stops by to keep in touch, introduce a new product or personally deliver an order. He also sends out free samples to select establishments where he feels his sauces would best complement their menus. Last year McCarthy’s home garden produced a bumper crop of hot peppers. And he credits much of that success as well as the overall success of the family business to lots of help from Marilyn McCarthy, who created the artwork, and his children; Hannah, 11 and “Lil’” Eddie, 8, whose faces appear on each bottle of Hoboken Eddie’s sauce. “They’re more than just pretty faces,” he said. “Every year they actively help me prepare the garden and then plant, nurture and harvest our crops. And as a father, I can hardly express how important it is to instill in them a good work ethic.” Hannah, only a baby at the time, is even addressed personally in a 1999 letter to the McCarthy family that reads, “Thanks so much for the delicious sauces. We really enjoyed our vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, and we appreciate your thoughtfulness. Sincerely, Bill Clinton.”

When I first started, I was in 40 stores. Now I’m in over 40 states - as well as overseas.” Hoboken Eddie, a.k.a. Edmund McCarthy of Warwick