North America: ‘time-released heat’

Born in Mexico, trained across Italian and Mediterranean kitchens for 27 years, Chef Saul Montiel treats every pepper as a personality to be understood and respected. His theme is timing: heat that arrives in stages rather than all at once, built like a song so the spice reveals itself slowly. He’s candid about the gap between an American fear of spice and what layered heat can actually be – and why he believes spicy is the new sweet.