Today we’d like to introduce you to Eskender “alex” Mogus
Hi Eskender “Alex”, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My friends back East will tell you, I’ve always had an affinity for barbecue and hole-in-the-wall mop and pop joints that are more focused on food than ambience. That said, ever since moving to Texas, the freedom to (insert smoker here…) and affinity for making my own barbecue at home and avoiding the costliness of dining out all of the time has led me to experiment and create my own version of barbecued dishes. And it’s allowed me to incorporate some unique influences from my Ethiopian heritage as well.
That’s where Amazing Awaze comes into play. You see, Ethiopian food has a lot of grilled and sauteed meat dishes that are rich in smoke flavor and contain some flavor profiles that, while unique, would not be that unfamiliar to Texas barbecue enthusiasts. Awaze (pronounced ah-wah-zey) is a dipping sauce that’s whipped together using berbere (pronounced burr-buh-rey), a complex spice made up of chiles, cardamom, coriander and nutmeg to name a few. It’s kind of the Ethiopian version of (spicy) barbecue sauce I guess!
I found myself making awaze so often at home, not just to use with the Ethiopian food we had at home, but to use with any barbecued or grilled meats that we would make. I even stopped making my own scratch barbecue sauce in favor of it. And it didn’t stop there; I was using awaze so often and on just about everything from my eggs to fish to chips and even on fried rice. So much so, that I started bottling it, so I’d always have some on hand. It’s at that point that I thought I need to share this with others. I made some tweaks to my recipe to make it shelf stable, more user-friendly and achieve the right consistency, tested with some friends and started taking it to farmers’ markets to sell to the community. That was in May of 2024.
I eventually added two additional flavors (mustard and mango), launched my website in November of this year (2024) and have signed up for spice events such as ZestFest in Fort Worth, TX (May 2025). I continue to attend farmer’s markets locally in the DFW area. But I’m now focused on brand awareness and how to bring my product to peoples’ attention nationwide. As we speak, I’m in Austin, barbecue capital of the world, to meet with local establishments and hand out samples of my sauce!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Easy peasy,…not! At my first farmer’s market back in May 2024, I took about 30-40 small bottle samples, and I did not sell, but handed out the bottles for free. The only request I had of folks is that they provide feedback to the email address that was listed on the bottle. I passed out almost every single bottle that day. And… I received one, yes, ONE response. And I’m pretty sure that was from the vendor that was sitting next to me that day. Lol.
Not dissuaded, I decided to try another market, but this time I would not hand out the product for free, but would charge fair market price and increase the bottle size to a full 9 oz. bottle. I took 28 bottles to this market and allowed customers to taste test from a sample bottle I had on hand. The reactions from customers as they tried it were truly remarkable! I sold 22 of the 28 bottles that day. In my mind, Amazing Awaze was born!
My other big challenge was obtaining a commercial kitchen to produce my product so that I could sell and ship nationwide. I was blessed with the good fortune of partnering with my local pizza shop who were gracious enough to give me use of their kitchen on the days that they’re not open to the public and in exchange I give them a batch of product as needed. They’ve even included my sauce on their menu as one of the flavors for their wings.
Shout outs to Chris and Aaron of Vaughn’s Pizzeria and Drafthouse in Flower Mound as well as Jamie at the Riverwalk Social for their generous support!
As you know, we’re big fans of Amazing Awaze LLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Amazing Awaze is really a labor of love. It’s not something I created for the public, but it’s something I created for myself. I use it every day. And it’s only after I realized how much I use and enjoy the product that I decided I need to share it. Despite the proliferation of sauces and condiments out there, I really don’t see a true counterpart to Amazing Awaze. The only way I can describe it to folks is if you took barbecue sauce, combined it with hot sauce, sriracha and maybe gochujang, then you’ll get something similar to Amazing Awaze. I don’t think that description does it justice though. You have to try it to see! Currently we have three flavors – original, mustard and mango. I would describe all of them as medium heat. I am working on what I call a ‘burn-your-face-off’ version for that small minority of dedicated folks who want that sort of pain, but in the meantime, folks can find us and place orders at our website: https://amazingawaze.com/. We ship to the Continental U.S. If you’re in the Flower Mound area, stop by Vaughn’s Pizzeria and Drafthouse (6050 Long Prairie Rd.) as well and order some Amazing Awaze Pepper Sauce wings!
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
My biggest risks are yet to come. That said, I feel that betting on the success of oneself is probably the biggest risk one can take. If you know you have a good idea or a good product and feel that you can fill a space that is currently empty or improve upon one that is already occupied then go for it. Going back to obstacles/challenges, I guess the biggest obstacle/challenge has been having patience and the belief/confidence in myself and my vision to see this through.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://amazingawaze.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amazingawaze2024/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61565041580959
