Made in Vermont: Bodacious Heat

SWANTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Things are getting spicy in Swanton, thanks to Liz Conforti.

“A meal does not taste like a meal unless it has some heat in it,” she laughed.

Conforti, who adores her Southern Italian roots, says spice is a must in food. That’s why she’s decided to make a spicy career out of it. It’s called Bodacious Heat, launched in April 2022. Though launching a food business is a new venture for her, working with food is not.

“I was raised in kitchens with all of my elders, these beautiful people from the Old Country, the Old World as we used to call it,” she recounted. “I was raised with my hands in a well full of flour.”

That became an issue about 15 years ago.

“I started my journey as someone that could not eat gluten and years ago when this first occurred, I kind of looked for a cookbook to teach me how to do things,” she said. Conforti says up until fairly recently, gluten-free foods were tough to come by, and that includes her beloved hot sauces.

”I had to learn how to make all condiments,” she said. “I missed my hot sauce, I can’t really live without heat… it’s just kind of the way it goes.”

Bodacious Heat is a result of lots of trial and error, perfecting the art of making hot sauce and other spicy goodies. Bottled sauces, spicy sugar and spicy salt for drink rims, and the most fascinating, “Dry Heat” powdered hot sauce. Conforti says it’s made for people who travel with hot sauce in tow and is a shatter-proof way to make sure your spice stays with you, and not on you.

“The first one broke for me on the E-train on my way to work and I was filled with a burn on my leg for the entire day,” she recalled.

No more of that; these tiny containers of spice pack all the punch you need without worrying about leaks. Conforti says you don’t need to add anything, just sprinkle it on top of whatever you’d like.

“Breakfast sandwiches and french fries and popcorn and burritos,” she said. “You name it.”

Everything is made by hand, with most things sourced from Vermont, except for the salt and the sugar. You can find Bodacious Heat at farmers markets and events across the state, as Conforti sets out to bring a little chili pepper to the chilly north.

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