It’s official… the hottest ready meals in the world are about to hit UK supermarkets, but you have to be over 18 to buy them.
If you’d consider yourself to be pretty tolerant when it comes to spicy food, and reckon you’ve got what it takes to handle the heat, then two new ready meals made with the world’s hottest chilli pepper are launching in Iceland from this week – but due to the serious spice levels, bosses have been forced to ban ban under 18s from getting their hands on them.
The two new meals, a searingly-spicy Chicken Tikka Masala and a molten Chilli Mac & Cheese, are with the world’s hottest chilli, Pepper X, which tops a staggering 2.69 million Scoville heat units – making it 53,760% hotter than a jalapeño.
The Pepper X chilli earned the title of the World’s Hottest Chilli from Guinness World Records in 2023, and last year, and has only ever been available in sauce form up until now.
Images: Supplied
The new products are so hot, in fact, that Iceland has become the first UK supermarket to introduce an age restriction on ready meals.
Whether you can believe it or not, staff at stores across the UK are prepped and will be on high alert when the products hit the shelves from this Thursday (10 October), ensuring IDs are shown at the checkouts, which means those daring enough for the challenge need to come prepared if they want to walk away with them.
“Our customers love spice, and they are always pushing us to turn up the heat,” explained Matthew Worsley, who is the Head Development Chef at Iceland Foods.
“So this time, we have developed a range that will not disappoint.
The meals will exclusively be available from Iceland and The Food Warehouse / Credit: Iceland Foods
“Our Pepper X range is unlike anything we’ve ever offered to our customers before. It’s intense, it’s fiery, and it’s certainly not for the faint-hearted, but with intense heat comes great responsibility, so to ensure only the most experienced spice enthusiasts can take on the challenge, we’ve decided to limit sales to customers aged 18 and over.”
The new Pepper X meals will arrive in select Iceland and The Food Warehouse stores from Thursday 10 October, with a full rollout across the UK, including online, by Monday 14October.
Featured image – Supplied
Eats
Get Baked’s viral ‘Bertha’ cake has a sister on the way – and she sounds just as cheeky
She's big, she's green and she's ready to ruin your figure.
A lot of you will have seen the viral ‘Bertha’ cake by Leeds born beloved sweet treat specialists Get Baked.
They recently opened another site in Manchester's Northern Quarter, where queues literally formed round the block of hungry punters wanting to get their hands on the infamous sugary treats.
And now it's going to happen all over again, as they've recently unveiled their newest flavour which is sure to go down a storm.
We’ll give you a hint: it’s a current food and drink trend that’s about as big as Bertha herself – it’s not matcha, it’s not hot honey (duh), and it’s not Guinness…
Images: Get Baked
Yes—scratch that; HELL YES!Get Baked is set to welcome Bertha’s equally beautiful twin sister, and she’s officially a pistachio girlie.
Having started out life simply as ‘Bruce’, after taking inspiration from the iconic scene from Matilda, this thing has become a phenomenon in its own right, and who doesn’t like more flavours of a good thing?
Probably one of the biggest foodie crazes going at the minute, thanks to the popularity of pistachio cream, cookies, lattes and the similar social media sensation that is the ‘Dubai Pistachio Bar' people are rather fittingly going nuts for this particular flavour of almost absolutely anything.
With that in mind, the Leeds-born bakery and dessert shop – founded by Rich Myers over in Headingley back in 2011 – have shown no hesitation in hopping on the bandwagon and creating a new twist on their own viral menu item.
Teasing the full details in a post on their Instagram this week, they wrote: “What’s big, green, and is going to destroy your life in a couple of weeks’ time? Pistachio Bertha. Strictly limited to 5,000 slices. Coming oh so soon. GB.”
In case you were wondering just how mad those with a sweet tooth could possibly go for a slice of cake, just look at the recent queues when they finally launched in Manchester city centre:
Speaking on the grand opening here on our turf and his partner Amy’s hometown, Myers said simply: “Manchester, what a launch. Thanks for much for the warm welcome. Stay baked.”
The Swine That Dines announces the official opening date of its brand new restaurant
Clementine Hall
Much-loved Leeds Bistro The Swine Bistro, formerly known as The Swine That Dines, has moved to a bigger space in Headingley.
Although it’s gone through a few name changes over the years since launching as The Greedy Pig cafe in 2012, this independent spot has long been a firm favourite for Leeds locals for some time now.
Run by chef couple Jo and Stu Myers, they’ve been operating out of North Street where it’s all about cooking seasonal produce simply and with an added ‘little bit of sunshine’.
But now Swine Bistro has moved up over to Headingley, taking up a unit previously occupied by Jam hairdressers on Otley Road.
Image: Supplied
And the time has finally come for them to open their doors, as they announce their first service will take place on Friday 4 April with bookings open from today, Thursday 20 March.
The Myers will be welcoming head chef Kirsty Cheetham, who won Observer Food Monthly’s Best Sunday Lunch award in 2018 and 2022 when she ran The Queen o’t owd Thatch in South Milford, Leeds.
The expanded space in the restaurant has allowed the team to curate a bigger wine list which will include natural wines from Wayward Wines and Latitude Wines as well as local beers from Ilkley Brewery and Horsforth Brewery.
Image: Supplied
The team remains passionate about locally sourced ingredients and has partnered with a variety of Yorkshire suppliers including R&J Yorkshire for its fresh meat, Tarbetts fishmonger, cheese from George & Joseph cheesemongers and beans from micro roaster, Chipp Coffee Co.
Jo Myers, co-owner of the Swine Bistro said: “It’s taken a huge amount of time and effort to realise our dream to revamp what was previously a hairdresser into a fully functioning kitchen and restaurant. It’s been a wild ride but we’re excited, and slightly nervous, to finally open our doors.
“We love the vibe in Headingley and the time out has allowed us to have fun with our menu as well as take part in lots of essential taste testing of ingredients and drinks from our brilliant local suppliers. We can’t wait to welcome guests into our new restaurant!”
Emily Sergeant -
9th October 2024 
