Spicy foods – and even the chile peppers that are their main ingredients – are not just hot. Their pungency may be their most obvious characteristic, but it is far from the most important one.
The food/flavor trend called “complex heat” is nothing but a recognition of this fact:
Chile peppers are not just more or less hot, they have different flavor and even heat profiles.
The ways that chile peppers are further processed adds to the diversity of flavors that spicy sauces and pungent dishes have.
The combination of different chile peppers and other aromatics makes for an even deeper complexity.
The Definition of Complex Heat
“Complex heat” is shorthand for the use of certain types of peppers, their preparation and combination with other aromatics, in the foods of different cuisines, giving distinct pungencies (“heat”) and flavors.
That all goes far beyond mere spiciness, let alone extremes of pungency, to distinct and complex flavor (and heat) profiles.
Examples of Complex Heat
Common examples of complex heat (e.g. 1, 2 – already mentioning this for 2023, 3, all typically based on the 2024 food trends report from Whole Foods’ Market Trends Council) include:
- Calabrian pepper, a peperoncino from the Italian region of Calabria, distinguished by smoky, fruity taste
- Chili Crisp, the Chinese condiment made of fried chile peppers, Sichuan pepper, and additional crispy bits that first gained a cult following through the version made by Laoganma and has been traveling far and wide since then
- Harissa, the North African “hot sauce”*
- Gochujang, the main chile pepper paste used in Korea*
- Pickled peppers, which combine the trends towards spicy foods and fermentation
(*The Specialty Food Association Trendspotter Panel mentions harissa and gojuchang as trends that have already seen their peak, however.)
More Than a Trend
On this site, we will follow the trend much deeper – and explore how it is actually less of a trend, but rather the rising understanding of spicy cuisines and the chile peppers and other aromatics they use.
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