You might picture summer as the season of light bites – crisp salads, chilled pastas, and the kind of easy Mediterranean fare that barely breaks a sweat on your taste buds. But new research from Waitrose suggests Britain is turning up the heat.
Whether customers are scratch-cooking at home and looking for a marinade or sauce to add to their dish, or they’re searching for a quick and simple dinner, spice is most certainly on the menu right now. Emilie Wolfman, Trend and Innovation Manager at Waitrose said: “The variety of spicy or ‘swicy’ foods has taken off enormously in the last couple of years, and as customers try different cuisines, experiment at home with their store cupboard essentials, and dabble in different levels of heat, they have begun to seek out more bold flavours.
“The sweet and spicy or ‘swicy’ phenomenon is a great example of how customers who might previously have been scared off by too much heat, are now dipping a toe via things like hot honey and marinades where the heat is softened at the edges.
Then there are customers who just want straight up spice. Therefore, we see the interest in scotch bonnet chillis, nduja pastes, chilli oils etc taking off alongside the sweeter options.”
The three spicy ingredients customers look for the most this summer are chilli oil, nduja paste and hot honey.
According to Waitrose data, search for chilli oil on its website jumped 82% last month. Sales of its nduja paste skyrocketed by 107% year-on-year, while searches for Hot Honey are up 64% in the last month.
Wolfman added: “Once upon a time, a spicy curry or chilli would likely be the only way the majority of customers experienced chilli heat in their kitchens, but now due to the vast array of global cuisines we cook and love to eat on a regular basis, shoppers are seeking out new culinary adventures, using spice as a way to challenge their tastebuds.”
So, how can you use these ingredients to make your food even tastier?
Drizzle hot honey over crisp pork belly or buttery roast potatoes for a sweet-and-spicy glaze, spoon chilli oil onto grilled fish, crunchy salads or even halloumi burgers for an extra kick, and stir nduja paste into pasta sauces, marinades or dressings to add smoky depth.
You can be, however, as creative as you want – in the end, it’s each to their own taste.
