{ mississippi made }
Grumpy Man Foods
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BY SUSAN MARQUEZ
here’s nothing like an excellent product that comes with a colorful backstory. Grumpy Man Foods has quite a colorful backstory, found on the company’s website, which explains that Grumpy Man’s beginnings go back to the 1700s. According to the legend, the Spanish landed on the shores of what is now St. Augustine, Florida, in search of magnificent riches. Little did they know they had brought the real treasure with them in the form of a tiny pepper called a datil. As they came upon the Mississippi River basin, a single pepper fell unnoticed from the pocket of a brave Conquistador. One day, a grumpy man was farming behind his Mississippi cabin when he came upon a strange seed on the ground – a seed from the very pepper dropped by the Spanish soldier. The Grumpy Man planted the seed in the corner of his garden, and the next day he awoke to see that a bush appeared where he had just planted the seed! He plucked a single pepper from the bush and popped it into his mouth. The flavors filled him with delight, and he began making delicious salsas and pepper jellies to share with his friends and family. Nathan Sandford is anything but a grumpy man, but he does run Grumpy Man foods. While the legend of Grumpy Man may be a bit exaggerated (if not entirely made up), the products are the real deal. Nathan says the story is true in that
44 • April/May 2022
it all started with a pepper. The datil pepper is a small, hot and flavorful pepper. “My parents started playing around with it
