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If you were to ask a group of people whether peppers are a fruit or a vegetable, you would probably get various completely different answers. Some might say peppers are a vegetable because they are typically used in savory dishes. Others might say that peppers are a fruit because they contain seeds. So, what is…
Looking for fun chili pepper facts to share with your friends or use in your trivia night? Here are a few of our favorite stats and facts about peppers: Jalapeños are the most popular hot pepper in the US, accounting for 5.4% of all peppers The most popular hot pepper in the US is jalapeños….
We’ve all re-discovered a long-lost bottle of hot sauce tucked away in the corner of the fridge for months or years and wondered… Does hot sauce go bad? In short, yes, hot sauce can go bad — but most hot sauces will last for many years before spoiling. Almost any food item will go bad…
Hot sauce is a condiment that is quite often vegan, but this varies from brand to brand depending on the ingredients and processing methods. Because different people approach plant-based eating differently, it can be hard to find a straight answer to your questions. Are hot sauces plant-based? Most hot sauces will contain only plant-based ingredients….
The spiciest wasabi I’ve ever eaten was a single-serving condiment packet that I had in a hotel buffet in China. Anyone who has had HOT wasabi will tell you, it’s extremely spicy, and might even be compared to the spiciest of peppers. But how spicy actually is it? Where does wasabi fall on the Scoville…
Do you know someone who makes spicy food their entire personality? I think we all do. I can be guilty of being that person too, which makes me exceptionally qualified to recommend products that the spicy food lovers in your life will LOVE. Here are my top picks for the holidays in 2022. Note: This…
Hot sauce is bold in flavor — in addition to spice, you might notice sourness, sweetness, fruitiness, and other flavor notes. But one flavor you shouldn’t be noticing is a metallic taste. Here are a few things to consider if you notice that your hot sauce tastes a little bit metallic. Health conditions that cause…
Sometimes your body and brain just scream for something spicy — fiery enchiladas, flaming curry, or hot sauce-doused anything. But what does it mean when you have an intense craving for spicy food? We dug into the research to help you understand what your body and brain tell you when you crave something spicy. What…
A bite of raw onion will instantly have your tongue burning and your eyes watering. But onions aren’t the “same kind” of spicy as chili peppers — so what makes them so hot? Do onions have capsaicin? Onions do not have any capsaicin. In fact, there are very few plants or vegetables other than chili…
When you think hot sauce, your mind probably jumps to spicy wings, stuffed burritos, and scintillating sriracha. But surprisingly, hot sauce is also often paired with fruit. Many hot sauces use fruit as an ingredient to round out the spicy with a touch of sweetness, and in some parts of the world, people put hot…
There are a variety of situations where you might consider applying cayenne pepper to your yard. Cayenne pepper is high in capsaicin, which is the chemical compound that makes chili peppers spicy. And after all, chili peppers developed this spice to deter it from being eaten — so many people apply cayenne to their yard…
Anyone who has ever accidentally bitten into a piece of peppercorn knows: black pepper can be SPICY! But black pepper, botanically speaking, is a dried berry, and not related to chili peppers, the main type of plant that has capsaicin. So does black pepper have capsaicin, and if not, then what makes it spicy? Black…
If you’re an avid spicy food lover, you’ve probably scoured all of your local markets for the best hot sauce selections. Walmart and Kroger have the basic Tapatio and Cholula, but don’t have an extensive selection where you’ll find obscure and small batch sauces. Here are a few ideas for places to shop in-person and…
We all know that capsaicin is the spicy-making chemical found in hot chili peppers — so we won’t go into too much detail on that. But did you know that it’s also found in non-spicy peppers and a few other types of plants? Read on to learn what foods, in addition to chili peppers, have…
Spicy buffalo wings are one of my all-time favorite finger foods! They combine irresistible spice, fattiness, and sourness, with juicy, crisp chicken wings. The standard buffalo sauce recipe consists of just a few ingredients: hot sauce, butter, sometimes a sweetener like honey, and sometimes a thickener like cornstarch. But what happens if you don’t eat…
Capsaicin is the natural chemical found in chili peppers that makes them HOT. There is no commercially available product that is 100% pure capsaicin, but products labeled as “pure capsaicin” typically range from 96%-99% purity. Pure capsaicin is sold in a powder or liquid form as an extract, intended for scientific and medical use or…
Many people who love spicy food, refer to it casually as an addiction. But can you actually get addicted to hot foods? First of all, let’s make sure we all have the same understanding of what addiction is. In a clinical sense, addiction isn’t just something you are motivated to do again and again because…
I eat salsa just about every day with my eggs, and often for dinner as well in taco bowls and burritos. But salsas that you can buy at the store can’t come close to the deliciousness of homemade salsa. When I started growing puma peppers at home, I knew I needed to develop a salsa…
Curry is an all-time favorite for spicy food lovers, because traditional curries from Thailand, Japan, India, and other countries often pack a powerful spicy punch. But recipes that you find online sometimes fall short of spicy expectations — so how can you adapt your favorite curry recipe to be even spicier? Here are a few…
Cinnamon Toast Crunch is my #1 favorite cereal of all time. But what happens when you take cinnamon cereal… and make it SPICY? Here’s what you need to know about the new CinnaFuego Toast Crunch: This article may contain affiliate links, which means that if you click and purchase we may earn a small commission…
Cayenne is one of the best-known chili peppers around the world, which makes it a popular choice for hot sauce! There are a number of mass-manufactured cayenne hot sauces, as well as hundreds of recipes that you can make from home. How hot are cayenne peppers? Cayenne peppers are around 30,000-50,000 SHU, making them significantly…
If you know me, you know I LOVE spicy food — so it may come as a surprise that I’m not a huge fan of spicy candy. But no judgment here, you’ve probably reached this page because you love hot candy, or at least because you’re curious about it. Read on to learn the answers…
I love all sorts of spicy foods — from Sriracha to homemade salsa, to wasabi and hot Chinese mustard. But even those who eat chili pepper-base spicy foods every day and consider themselves to have a high tolerance will find their eyes watering and their sinuses flaring when they eat wasabi. That’s because unlike chili…
We are in the great Sriracha drought of 2022. I haven’t seen it on the shelves of local grocery stores for months now. And if you’re anything like me, that’s a big problem! It’s not just a local issue, in fact, there’s a nationwide shortage of Sriracha. Because Huy Fong Sriracha is a staple in…