Hot And Dangerous: Omid Djalili’s new Quest TV series looks into Britain’s increasing love of fiery foods

Starting Friday 24 October, 2014 at 9:00pm on Quest, Hot And Dangerous sees actor and stand-up comic Omid Djalili delve into our nations obsession with spicy foods.

With the British public now estimated to be spending an average of £500+ each per year on curries, it’s clear this culinary trend is no flash in the pan.

Along his journey, Omid will be using science to help seek out the UK’s hottest dish, along with the odd eating challenge thrown in for good measure. Taking on creations such as the Bullet Chilli, Crocodile Inferno and The Widower curry, the show uses their special ‘heat rig’ to help quantify the levels of heat and stress the comedian is being exposed to.

So choosing to host a Quest TV series like this, it’s probably fair to assume Mr Djalili’s a big fan of chilli’s? In fact the reality is the 49-year-old cannot stand spicy dishes. Lets hope for his sake then there’s plenty of cold milk on standby.

Series Trailer

Here’s a look at our countries current top 10 varieties of curry:

1 – Tikka Masala
2 – Korma
3 – Jalfrezi
4 – Rogan Josh
5 – Madras
6 – Bhuna
7 – Dupiaza
8 – Vindaloo
9 – Saag
10 – Dansak

Despite the most popular curries on the list still being the milder Tikka Masala and Korma, research shows eaters tolerance of spice is increasing all the time. One theory for this could be that due to the nutritional benefits of eating chilli peppers, such as their high vitamin C content, our brains gradually learn their qualities and reward us for consuming more. As many spice addicts will likely attest to, as your body adapts, you end up seeking out hotter and hotter foods in order to achieve the same buzz.

Studies carried out for Hot And Dangerous suggest half of female curry-eaters in the UK say their tolerance to hot food has indeed increased over the last few years. Half the 2,000 adults questioned also believed women have developed a greater resistance to spice than their male counterparts. Judging by his strong dislike of hot food, it appears Omid will be doing little to disprove these opinions anytime soon.

Here’s a special preview clip of The Widower head to head eating challenge, good luck Omid: