Complex heat: why 'nuanced' spice is the next big thing for food

The trend for pure "brain-exploding" spicy heat in restaurants and supermarkets is expected to cool this year in favour of a more complex flavour.

Heat will become more "nuanced and multidimensional", perhaps "paired with sweet and sour flavors or being coaxed from layering flavors from different peppers from different parts of the world", said Cathy Strange, ambassador of food culture at the US supermarket chain Whole Foods Market, in The New York Times.

"Complex heat" was among the top 10 anticipated food trends for 2024 in the US, forecast by Whole Foods Market's Trends Council last year. The phenomenon "continues its evolution with global peppers taking off in every aisle", said the council. "Specialty varieties like Scorpion Peppers, Guajillo or Hungarian Goathorn Peppers are found fresh, whole, ground or pickled, and a new wave of botana sauces and chili oils are popping up in condiment aisles nationwide."

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It added that "pepper-infused" drinks would be filling up consumers' fridges, while the spicy sauce Tajín would be expanding from sweets and cocktails to "sushi, desserts and more".

A host of new chilli products, pastes and seasonings that "play on the complex flavours" of different chilli peppers from around the globe will be on the market in the UK too, said a 2024 Food Trends Report from the Reading-based food research company RSSL. Product development has gone "beyond heat" towards "sophisticated smoky and sweet notes" that should attract a wider customer base.

Hot sauce is still on the burner, though, with launches significantly up in 2023 compared to the year before. National Geographic said that retailers reported a huge increase in demand, with sales up 55% at Waitrose and independent specialist retailer Hop Burns & Black reporting a 94% rise. 

Hop Burns & Black said it believed demand had been driven by the "growing interest in world cuisine", and the "desire to explore flavours from around the world". Both retailers also attributed "a large part of the craze" to the success of YouTube show "Hot Ones", where celebrities are interviewed while they eat chicken wings doused in a succession of sauces that get hotter and hotter.

RSSL predicted that chilli sauce would undergo a makeover, with well-loved condiments incorporating heat in their own product ranges this year. "Creative flavour combinations" such as hot honey and spicy mayonnaise enjoyed "notable success" this past year.

As Strange said: "It's not just ghost pepper coming at you. It's more about the complexity and what you can create with it."