Chilihound Graham Ford is warming up the region with the sauces and chilli condiments he makes in his kitchen in Saltburn. Ruth Addicott is hot on his trail

If your body is craving some heat this winter and your meals could do with a kick, keep an eye out for Graham Ford, who has tapped into the nation’s obsession with spice and created a range of hot sauces and chilli condiments. Not only do they liven up mealtimes and provide a perfect winter warmer, but chilli has a host of health benefits too.

Graham has always liked chillies and was introduced to the chipotle chilli about 16 years ago by a friend who had used it in a sauce. He was so impressed he decided to create his own version and try it out on friends.

The turning point came at a Surfers Against Sewage clean-up on Saltburn beach in February 2011. “We had a barbecue and I made a big vat of chilli beans to take down along with the sauce and people really liked it,” he says. “I basically took a bunch of orders, knocked up a large batch, jarred it, delivered it and it started from there.”

From Edinburgh originally, Graham was a roadie and stage manager for indie band The House of Love before meeting his wife – who grew up in Middlesbrough – and moving to Saltburn in 1995. He was Head of Psychology at Egglescliffe School and taught at Middlesbrough College before launching his chilli venture in September 2013.

He now sells seven different sauces ranging from the mildest, Holy Red!, which is made from new Mexican red chilli and tastes a bit like a spicy ketchup to Holy Hell Hound! which he says “will certainly give most people a very good sweat and may make some people cry”. He describes it as “a slow-builder” with a big wallop of flavour to begin with before the heat begins to layer.

He gave some to his wife to try with cheese on toast before unleashing it on the public and says even his wife, who has quite a high tolerance, coughed. “That is probably as hot as I would be comfortable going myself in terms of how much heat I like,” he says. “I’ve had people try it at farmers markets and they’ll go ‘Aye, that’s warm’ and you know it’s hotter than warm. But then some people do have nuclear palettes and can tolerate huge amounts of heat. I’ve had other people who think it’s jam or don’t read the description and they’re coughing and hiccupping. One little boy was reduced to tears.”

The range also includes Holy Y!, a medium heat sauce which is bright yellow in colour and made from an aji lemon pepper. It has a lemon and lime flavour and a little bit of sweetness. “It goes well mixed with mayonnaise and for dipping big prawns in. It’s also great on egg and chips,” he says.

The best seller and his original sauce is Holy Chipotle!, a medium heat, smoky, sweet sauce which comes from the chipotle (a smoked jalapeno). Graham describes it as “a barbecue sauce with a bit of attitude” - great with scrambled eggs or cheese on toast. It can be used in spaghetti bolognaise or added to chilli con carne, pizza, enchiladas or burritos. He recommends mixing it with sour cream to turn down the heat or stirring it into natural yoghurt for a good marinade for meat.

For aficionados who like it extra hot, there’s the Holy Chipotle Extra!– great on pulled pork and barbecues – then there’s Holy Habanero! “which I’d call hot,” he says. “It’s quite fruity, it’s got a really good flavour, then that heat comes in. I’d use it on the side with chilli con carne and it’s good on fish, chicken, tacos and burritos.”

Finally, for something completely different, there’s Holy Chobanero! made from Belgian chocolate, habaneros, lime juice and lime zest. “When you taste it, you get chocolate then lime and a sharp hit of heat,” says Graham. “I’ve had it on venison and it’s pretty good with strong cheese or plonked straight on top of a burger. I’ve also had it on vanilla ice cream.”

The UK hot sauce market is now said to be worth more than £17m with chilli festivals springing up all over the country, including the Festival of Heat in London. As well as local farmers markets, Graham's sauces are sold at Lewis & Cooper in Yarm, Real Meals Delicatessen and Grasers in Saltburn and Rise Artisan Bakehouse in Crook, County Durham. He also uses local ingredients as much as possible from Apple Orchard Nurseries and Yorkshire Chillies.

Chillies are also widely known for their health benefits, packed with vitamins, they have anti inflammatory properties, they can help lower the risk of cancer, diabetes and heart disease and even help arthritis and weight loss. They also make you feel good as the body produces endorphins to combat the capsaicin-induced pain. Milk is the best thing to dissolve the heat; water gives an initial cooling, but then just spreads it around.

“You’ve got a lot of varieties out there and they do carry lots of flavour,” says Graham. “The heat component in chilli binds to pain receptors in your tongue and your interpretation of that in your brain will determine whether or not you’re experiencing that as pleasure or pain so it’s incredibly subjective. Sometimes the hotter the chillies are, the harder it is to detect that flavour immediately, but I think people like to try different things. It’s also the challenge and a bit of machismo. Any chilli festival will have a chilli competition and you’ll have a person who might not blink and others who’ll drop like flies once they get past the habanero stage.”

Has he ever taken part himself?

“Nope,” he laughs. “The hottest chilli I’ve been comfortable eating is called a Jonah 7 Pot. It supposedly clocks in about 1.1/1.3million scovilles. I cut a little slither off and I was sweating under my eyes. That heat was still there and my tongue was still tingling a good 40 minutes later.”

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