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Coast Guard veteran creates distinct 'Florida' BBQ sauce

The goal is to get Florida into the conversation with a regional food item and keep taste buds happy in BBQ restaurants across the nation.

Gaston Merideth was tired of using sauces with labels like ‘Kansas City’ and ‘Memphis’ on the bottle. The native Floridian wanted to create something that tasted a little more familiar.

“I’m a strawberry, raspberry, blueberry guy,” he said. “Just Florida ingredients in this sauce.”

Merideth always loved cooking. Growing up in a house with 15 kids meant he had to fend for himself in the kitchen.

“We had to cook,” he said. “I started washing dishes in high school. Why? Free food.”

He cooked for his crewmates while in the Coast Guard for four years and has run a catering business in Tampa since 2013. Food is a big part of his life. It was just a matter of time before he created a signature sauce.

“He worked a long time on it,” said his wife, Kathy. “I just put in on rice sometimes because it tastes so good.”

Merideth's sauce includes 14 flavors associated with Florida. He uses local fruit like strawberries and raspberries, citrus juices, and a pepper that only grows in the St. Augustine-area of the state.

“The Datil pepper,” he said. “It’s related to the habanero and ghost chili. It will light you up.”

Gaston created three unique sauces using all Florida ingredients. His 99-degree sauce has a bit of a spicier note from the Datil pepper. He created an ‘original’ sauce and a mustard-based sauce as well.

“We have berries. We have citrus. We have tomatoes,” he said. “Florida doesn’t have a regional sauce. If there was a regional sauce, what would it be?”

Merideth says he thinks he’s created it. He has already shipped orders to as far away as California. One customer even requested an entire palette of sauces. The bottles sell for $6.99 and are available online at his website.

The goal is to get Florida into the conversation with a regional food item and keep taste buds happy in BBQ restaurants across the nation.

“That little twist on Florida is a great idea,” said Craig Gross, the owner of Frankie’s Patriot BBQ in Clearwater. “I’m really looking forward to trying it.”

Merideth's sauces are available at www.FLBBQsauce.com.

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