Billy T’s Natural Foods: Delaware’s Ultimate Condiments
For Wilmington chef William Courtney, “hot sauce,” as a term, is much too limiting.
Instead, think of his tiny, eye-catching bottles of culinary alchemy as flavor enhancers.
While Courtney’s line of Billy T’s Natural Foods is technically a side-hustle for the longtime Delaware chef — whose day job is Executive Chef and Director of Food & Beverage at the Hilton DoubleTree in Wilmington — it’s quickly become a time-consuming passion project, and one that’s caught fans from around the country.
Billy T’s boasts pockets of fandom in San Diego and Michigan, but the veteran Delaware chef lets his Blue Hen pride shine through in his sauces. They’re as collaborative as they are inventive.
The Bumpin’ Buffalo is a twangy vegan buffalo sauce, tag-teamed with beloved Rainbow Records and launched on National Record Store Day. Honey Bee Habenero, with a dash of sweet and spicy, and a little hit of lemon, basil and garlic, is made exclusively for Honeybee Kitchen and Market in Wilmington’s Trolley Square neighborhood. For a Delaware Horticultural Society Fundraiser, Courtney batched and bottled an exclusive bottle made with local blackberries.
Naturally, his most runaway popular variety (and one that scored him an NBC Philly news spot) featured the mug of Delaware’s most famous resident—President Joe Biden.
When the hospitality industry slowed during COVID, Courtney turned to making hot sauces as a creative outlet. A former touring punk rocker, Billy T’s sauce labels resemble record covers, and he’s often turned to friends and artists from his rock days to create them.
They’re not as aggressive as the artwork might suggest. “None of them are going scorch you or burn you. They’re very palate-pleasing for everybody,” Courtney says. Take the signature Citrus Loving Fire, (featuring the Flyers’ iconic Gritty mascot), made from turmeric, ginger, and fatalii peppers. Taco Taco, as the name suggests, is a lime, cilantro and jalapeno blend ready for any tortilla.
Courtney himself is a longtime hot sauce fanatic. On a recent, two-night family vacation to the Poconos, the chef packed five bottles of hot sauce. “My wife was like, ‘Why do you need that?’ I was like, ‘I just need it. I need to have it with me.’ If you open my refrigerator, there’s, I don’t know, 60 bottles of hot sauce in there.”
Order though Billy T’s Etsy store, or visit Facebook and Instagram for more details.
