- Viral trends and Gen Z’s love of spice have inspired new menu items at fast-food chains.
- Popeyes and Subway recently launched their own takes on the ghost and pepper sandwich.
- I tried both and thought they were milder than other savory sandwiches I’ve had.
While October marks the beginning spooky season in the usasome 7,000 miles around the world, in Imphal, a city in northeast India, it’s harvest time for Bhut Jolokia, or ghost pepper as it’s known in the West.
Like baskets from flaming red peppers Fast food brands in the US are starting to sell in markets across Imphal and are starting to introduce menu items inspired by the pepper’s fiery flavor, using its name as a nod to Halloween.
Paprika, one of the hottest in the world, has a rating of over 1 million Scoville scale — jalapeño typically has a rating below 8,000 — and is known for amping up the heat of any dish.
Before you become Halloween publicity material fast food chainspaprika has been the subject of eating challenges on YouTube such as “Ghost Pepper Challenge” where people ate the whole ghost pepper. While spice challenges have been around for years, contests and YouTube series like “Hot,” a gamified spice-eating experience.
Fast food brands now rely on this virality and Gen Z’s love of spicy flavors by adding ghost-pepper items to menus.
For the past two years, Burger King has sold ghost-pepper Whoppers and ghost-pepper chicken fries in time for Halloween. Starting in May 2023, Wendy’s added its own ghost and pepper menu items, including fries, chicken nuggets, and chicken sandwiches.
And this Halloween, Popeyes, which has already been tried ghost wings, and Subway is joining them. Both chains launched ghost and pepper sandwiches earlier this month.
I don’t have a huge tolerance for spicy food, but like other Gen Zers, I prefer a chicken sandwich with a bit of a kick. My favorite is Chick-fil-A’s Spicy Deluxe Sandwich, which I think gets the heat just right.
I’ve had a meal infused with spirit and pepper once before—at an Indian restaurant where I needed a side of yogurt to cool the meal down—so I know how spicy it can be. So when I heard about the new sandwiches, I was curious to see how they would compare.
Here’s what I discovered when I tried the ghost and pepper sandwich from Popeyes and Subway.