The Boston Globe's Sacha Pfeiffer wrote about the passion that Baby Boomers seem to have for spicy foods in last Sunday's paper.  She joined Chip Griffin to discuss the trend on the latest edition of Cork & Knife Radio.

(Click here to listen to the 7 minute interview.)

It turns out that as adults age, our sense of smell begins to dull, and we have a natural tendency to search out more flavorful foods.  Sacha first got the idea to pursue this story at -- of all things -- the American Chemical Society's recent meeting in Boston where she engaged in a conversation with some food scientists about trends.  These scientists think companies are missing opportunities to meet this need of older consumers, especially because it is hard to market to people by claiming a food is designed for older palates.

While the focus of the conversation is fiery foods in restaurants and on supermarket shelves, Sacha also touches on other full-flavored foods that older Americans may find appealing, including blue cheese, feta cheese, and stinky cheeses.

"Chili peppers are huge," Sacha told Cork & Knife Radio, with plenty of snack foods being seasoned with these. She also mentioned that "sensory irritants" like ginger, cinnamon, and chili peppers cause special reactions that help penetrate the dulled senses that many boomers experience.

The most interesting thing that Sacha discovered in her research was that many of the spicier, bolder flavors we find in food often come from plants that originally developed these compounds to help ward off insects -- what insects dislike, it turns out we humans really enjoy.