Sick of sriracha? Try Sambal Oelek, an Indonesian chilli sauce that’s easy to make in minutes, by blending red chillies, salt and either vinegar or lime juice together. Or buy a jar ready-made.
If I were to be consigned to a desert island and could take only one spicy condiment it would be molho apimentado from Brazil
Will 2024 be the year of hot sauce? The Guinness Book of Records recently certified the world’s hottest chilli, Pepper X. In case you’re wondering, hot peppers are rated for heat on the Scoville Scale, created by American pharmacist Wilbur Scoville in 1912. It measures the amount of capsaicin (the chemical compound that causes spicy heat) in a pepper and assigns it an SHU (Scoville Heat Unit) rating.
However, my love of the stuff is not about extreme heat, but rather the vast array of flavours that accompany it. From smoky chipotle to fruity scotch bonnets, habaneros, ghost peppers and more, hot sauces are no longer just about intensity; now they are far more focused on nuanced taste. Lee
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