Shaquanda's Hot Pepper Sauce
What do you get when you mix drag performance, Caribbean heritage, and a jolt of Brooklyn? That would be Bed-Stuy native Andre Springer. But you might better know Andre as his drag alter ego, Shaquanda Coco Mulatta — also the face of his condiment line, Shaquanda’s Hot Pepper Sauce.
“Being a Black queer man is a core part of my identity, so whatever I do or make is always going to be about my experiences,” says Andre, 37. “And I’ve never been apologetic about it.”
Born in Bedford-Stuyvesant of Barbadian descent, as a kid Andre regularly pickled peppers with his grandmother, blending the fresh ingredients into homemade sauces. Years before making hot pepper sauce professionally, however, he was a fixture in Brooklyn’s drag scene with his Shaquanda persona.
“My performance name is a tribute to the girls I grew up with,” says Andre, whose character’s gold hoop and doorknocker earrings are also inspired by around-the-way girls.
Shaquanda’s colorful bandana and apron, on the other hand, are a nod to Andre’s grandmother, a cook in Barbados before she moved to New York. He incorporated hot sauce into the act in 2014, dancing with audience members and serving it directly into their mouths. “I just thought of it as another iteration of an art piece,” he says. “I didn’t think about selling it — but then people were trying to buy it from me.” From there, Shaquanda’s Hot Pepper Sauce was born.
“Being a Black queer man is a core part of my identity, so whatever I do or make is always going to be about my experiences.”
Pablo Serrano
“If you want flavor balanced with heat and spice — a nice experience on your palate with a little hit — then I’m the sauce for you,” says Andre, who describes Shaquanda’s Hot Pepper Sauce as not only an island-style condiment, but also a cooking sauce and marinade. “If you just want something that will burn out your mouth, I’m not the one.”
The original Shaquanda’s Hot Pepper Sauce is Andre’s take on the classic Barbadian hot sauce made with turmeric, mustard, onion, scotch bonnet peppers and apple cider vinegar. Shaquanda’s Spicier Smoke, a remix of the original with smoked paprika, is influenced by Andre’s friends from the south.
The Mx. Green Sass is his spin on a verde sauce: bright, herbaceous and citrusy, with jalapenos and serranos lending a spicy kick. And the savory Oooohmami sauce is flavored with caramelized onion and black garlic, a reflection of the umami profile — and a joking reference to Brooklyn catcalls.
“All four bottles are an expression of drag,” Andre says of the labels illustrated with Shaquanda in various wigs and looks. But behind the cheeky branding is a serious culinary perspective. Shaquanda’s Hot Pepper Sauce has been recognized by the James Beard Foundation and is sold at specialty stores nationwide.
In addition to being a drag performer and hot sauce maker, Andre Springer is also an accomplished visual and multimedia artist. As a member of HOWDOYOUSAYYAMINAFRICAN? — a collective of mostly Black, mostly queer artists whose collaborative works reflect the African diasporic experience — he contributed to a video art piece that exhibited at the 2014 Whitney Biennial. (The group famously withdrew from the prestigious art show in protest of the Whitney’s long history of excluding Black artists.)
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But a common thread in all of Andre’s work is an emphasis on being vocal and visible.
“I want people to remember that Shaquanda’s Hot Pepper Sauce originated from performance and that the sauce is an extension of myself,” he says. “Especially when there’s not much Black representation in the queer community, I will always make myself as visible as possible. I want people like me to see me and say, ‘Hey, I’m here!’” —By Gonathan Breedlove
