During our market and fair participations in the last years – from tiny street markets to the big fairs – our customers and visitors have asked us a lot of questions. Chillies and the enjoyment of spicy food are a topic that is still in its infancy in Europe. Comparable to the topic of wine or the topic of beer – many drink it, but there are few experts

Sharpness – only for strong men?
This in advance: There is no uniform “heat tolerance” of humans. You can’t even say that adults are more resistant than children: At festivals, we could observe at our booth how 6 to 10 year old – Northern European – children enjoyed some of our spicier sauces without batting an eyelid (of course in the presence of their parents), where other adults would have or have been desperately looking for the way out 🙂.
These children, by accident – or simply by their liberal parents – have discovered the spicy taste for themselves, and enjoy it.
Spicy food – a spicy habit!
Chili sauces or spicy food is of course also a cultural thing, in some regions of the world no meal comes without a certain seasoning or spiciness on the table. So it’s a matter of habit – because: the more often you eat hot/spicy food, the higher your tolerance.
We say “spicy food is like running a marathon”, you can also train “spicy food”. If in doubt, simply start with the milder ones and slowly work your way up.
Spiciness – A natural flavor enhancer – and more!
The spicy parts of the chili pepper actually act as flavor enhancers for our palates: the irritated receptors in the mucous membranes are better supplied with blood, thus also the neighboring taste buds, which in turn are more sensitive to the actual tastes : sweet, sour, bitter, salty.
It also makes us happy (release of endorphin).
How should I use this chili sauce then?
A topic that comes up again and again and – believe it or not – is the most frequently asked question at trade fairs and markets:
“How do I even use these ‘sauces’?
Especially from people interested in chili often comes the question: “the sauces are so delicious, but how to use hot sauces”? or comments like “I don’t know how to use them” or even “What dishes do I eat chili sauces with”? We hear this practically every time. From this came our conclusion that we needed to give examples of how and with what certain sauces could be eaten.
Hot spices, especially chili, are thus considered a kind of drug and have a stimulating effect on our body.
Because at the end of the day, it’s not just about our customers wanting to cook something special with the sauce, it’s about the actual use of chili sauces in everyday life.
Fans of spicy food naturally also like to cook with fresh chilies and/or plant some themselves. But cooking with fresh chilies is such a thing, because as the garden & chili lovers among you have surely noticed, not all chili fruits of a plant are equally hot. That’s why you’re more likely to be on the safe side if you season your favorite dish with a chili sauce instead of using fresh chilies.
Some of the sauces can be used directly for cooking, but it is often better to season the dishes selectively. This has the advantage that you can regulate the spiciness individually, and the dish does not become too spicy, or inedible if you have made a mistake in the dosage.
In Northern Europe, “eating with sauce” means adding as much sauce as possible to the dish so that it becomes almost a main component of the dish, adding its flavor to the whole dish. How does it work with the chili sauces?
The drip technique
Cultures that eat a lot of spicy food handle the sour issue a little differently. They are used to selectively season the dish. The sauce is not part of the dish, but after the dish is served, it is used to give an individual flavor to the food, some take more, others less. Thus, everyone eats as spicy as it suits him.
It’s about “improving” a very specific corner of the dish, drop by drop, through the sauce’s own flavor and with its own spiciness (depending on practice and talent). It should be short and varied, and stay under your personal spiciness limit – otherwise everything tastes the same.
We haven’t found a suitable name for it yet. We must continue to work with the word “sauce – sauce”. With the addition “drip technique”…. that succinctly defines what we mean. Dropping instead of Dipping!!!!
With the drip technique it is guaranteed NEVER TOO HOT . Don’t forget! – Chilies, like other natural products, are never always the same. The Schärfegradfresh pods sometimes varies depending on the season and month. Since we do not use artificial additives, it may be that in our chili sauces sometimes the Heat Level varies slightly
More on our post: The Chili Mafia Drip Technique