Some (in the UK) like it hot

July 29, 2023 by
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In the United States, hot sauce has been a favorite condiment for many years (remember Hillary Clinton talking about keeping a bottle in her purse?), and the love for spicy food has likewise been around for a long time. Until recently the love for fiery foods has not taken root across the pond in the UK, but that seems to be changing, as sales of hot sauce have risen dramatically in the last few years.

Fermented, aged hot pepper sauce from Phickle

Not only are people embracing spicy foods, a cultural shift appears to be taking place. There are subscription clubs for the spicy condiment, and a popular podcast involves A-list celebrities like Florence Pugh and Idris Elba trying different hot sauces. While the momentum has so far been fueled with imported products, more homegrown sauces have been popping up recently. Small batch producers “are a key feature of the chilli festivals that are now a part of British summer time,” says The Guardian’s Alice Fisher.

People in the UK have fallen hard for sriracha with sales up 22% year over year, which makes shortages of the product that much more problematic for fans. (Huy Fong, which makes the most popular brand of the sauce, is battling supply problems for the second year in a row.) The hot sauce revolution shows no signs of slowing as demand for the condiment in general is up 55% from last year, and Waitrose now stocks over 20 different brands of hot sauce.

Category: Antipasto

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3 Comments

  • averythingcooks  on  July 30, 2023

    And I still don’t know/understand what authors like Jamie Oliver, Diana Henry and Gordon Ramsay mean when they call for (as an example) “3 long, red chiles”. I obviously use my judgement there but for example, amongst the many varieties of hot red chiles I grow are Fresnos (lower end), habaneros (upper end) and new this year is a hybrid cayenne (Arapaho) that, when ripe are deep red, up to 8″ inches long and come in at b/w 30,000 and 50,000 heat units. I really appreciate authors who give some examples/alternatives re: what you may want to use.

  • ellabee  on  July 30, 2023

    I wonder how much if any of this recent enthusiasm for spiciness and hot sauces in the UK is due to the large number of people whose sense of taste and smell have been diminished during and after infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

  • carolwatson  on  August 4, 2023

    Hot sauce may be a trend, but the Brits have been mad on hot curries – through India – for a couple of centuries. They already like spicy food.

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