When Beyoncé’s new single, “Formation,” dropped on Saturday, fans were abuzz over the video’s stunning outfits and impressive choreography — but most of all, they were freaking out about chili peppers.
“I got hot sauce in my bag, swag,” the superstar says in the song, admitting her love for the caliente condiment. Bey’s definitely onto something.
Hot sauce has seen a huge rise in popularity over the past 15 years. According to Euromonitor data, the hot sauce market in the US has grown by 150 percent since 2000, more than ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise combined.
And average New Yorkers are carrying it with them wherever they go — in their bags and even on key chains — to add a healthy kick to meals.
“I’ve always loved hot sauce, but over the past few years I’ve started using it in lieu of salad dressing, since it’s a lot lower in calories but adds a ton of flavor,” says Cassie Kreitner, 27, a Midtown-based online editor who goes to the gym four nights a week. “I keep a bunch at my desk and sometimes in my purse.”
Noah Chaimberg, founder of Heatonist, a small-batch hot-sauce store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, says there’s a huge demand for smaller bottles because customers value portability. “They don’t want to compromise on flavor just because the restaurant hasn’t caught up to where they are.”
Chaimberg adds that his Brooklyn store, which opened last April, has a loyal customer base, roughly half of whom are women. “We’ve started to see, now that we’ve been open a good period of time, the same faces coming back again and again.”
And experts say the condiment’s benefits go beyond spicing up bland diet foods.
The concentrated blend of chili peppers and vinegar is incredibly healthy, says Rebecca Blake, Mount Sinai Beth Israel’s senior director of clinical nutrition. “The flavonoids and carotenoids you find in hot peppers have antioxidant properties,” says Blake, “which may be protective against certain cancers and heart disease.”
It could even aid in weight loss. “[Hot sauce] is a little bit painful,” she says. “You are less likely to overeat food that’s very hot.”
Hillary Clinton reportedly believes in the product’s health benefits as well, and stocked many bottles of it on her Air Force plane when she was secretary of state. And hot-bodied model Chrissy Teigen has tweeted about her tendency to pack heat. (In case you’re wondering, she also told The Post that her No. 1 hot sauce is Cholula, though she likes Tabasco as a breakfast option and Sriracha for the occasional dinner spice-up.)
However, women aren’t the only hot-sauce devotees — dudes love it too. Actor Shelly Desai, who declined to give his age for professional reasons and divides his time between Hell’s Kitchen and West Hollywood, Calif., started toting a bottle around while working with New York nutritionist Dawn Lerman.
“Hot sauce not only spices up the flavor in my meals but has helped me to control my sugar cravings,” he says. “Carrying hot sauce with me, which I also add to my afternoon almonds, has helped me to lose 20 pounds in three months.”
Kendra Lee, 27, says the piquant potion makes her “feel alive.” For two years, the Brooklyn resident, who works in marketing, has carried a small bottle of Tabasco in her bag, and she puts it on everything savory, save for sushi. Coincidentally, she’s just as obsessed with Beyoncé.
“I was so happy to have something else in common with [her],” she says. “Because all I had [before] was that we’re both women and born in Houston.
“Now we have hot sauce.”
Top hot sauces:
Noah Chaimberg, owner of the Heatonist (121 Wythe Ave., Brooklyn), a Williamsburg store devoted to hot sauce, shares his favorite bottles in order from mild to menacingly spicy.
