To say the love of all things hot and spicy is merely heating up would be an understatement at this point. In fact, the majority of Americans would say they have something spicy at least once a week, but many are kicking up the heat even more often than that nowadays. There’s a million reasons for the rise in popularity, but the largest one in the room is clear.
That reason is the now clear understanding that adding spice (and therefore heat) to food is universal and belongs on much more than your dad’s buffalo wings. Spicy foods making a few of the right friendships hasn’t hurt either – and the most important of that being the mixing of heat with all things sweet.
Are you unfamiliar with the new power couple in town? Let’s learn a little more about what makes the sweet and spicy combination so popular.
It’s Trendy
Some things aren’t more complicated than that. Of course, there’s more to the story but let’s not undercut the value of all the internet does for exposure. No matter where you spend your time online, be it TikTok, Twitter, or anywhere else, everyone is always quick to catch wind of the new it-things that seem to take the internet by storm each week.
For many, having spicy and sweet together was largely uncharted territory and that’s what makes the wonderful combo so potent as a viral moment. Most of us have loved each one separately for years and years and all it took was following the right person online to see how much those two culinary forces can do together.
A Change in Culture
Older readers might not realize how much this is happening and younger ones might not have realized how this wasn’t always a thing but the internet has brought us together in ways never previously thought possible. Pairing sweet and spicy might be new in your part of the world, thanks to viral content online, but it’s a decades old idea where that content originated from.
Seeing something tasty in a well edited video is going to pull food lovers in a way that nothing else really can do. Savvy restaurant owners are always going to have their fingers in the pulse with things like this and as a way to offer guests the foods they’ve been dreaming about.
What’s Old Is New Again
It wouldn’t be a surprise to learn that there’s some out there thinking, “This isn’t new; I have so many memories of having mango pepper jelly at family parties when I was growing up.” If that sounds like you, it might be hard to think that what was commonplace among your family members might have also been their best kept secret.
Looking back to midcentury America, sweet and spicy dishes were a little more common as part of a party’s spread. Those old recipes might just even be the source of where some of the viral breakout food trends come from – be it thanks to when someone found an old recipe book while thrifting or there was finally time for the old family recipes to get handed down.