How to make a delicious chilli hot sauce by harnessing fermentation

It might sound daunting, but fermentation can be used to make hot sauces packed with flavourful compounds, says Sam Wong

By Sam Wong

HOT sauces are popular all over the world. Many are produced by fermentation, using microorganisms to add depth of flavour and create sauces offering more than just a kick of chilli heat.

The burning sensation comes from capsaicin, a molecule that activates heat receptors. As Clare Wilson explained in her science of gardening column a fortnight ago, Capsicum plants may have evolved the ability to produce capsaicin to deter mammals from eating them, but our species has developed a perverse taste for the pain it brings.

If you are following Clare’s tips for growing chillies at home, you might …