Spicy Food: Where Jason Kelce Draws the Line

While Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce enjoys adding heat to his meals with hot sauces and spices, he isn’t a fan of foods that are so spicy they overpower the flavors or make the food difficult to eat. In a recent podcast appearance with his brother Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs, Jason opened up about his tastes when it comes to spicy cuisine.

Jason said he likes spicy foods but only up to a certain point. “I do enjoy hot sauces and adding some kick to my meals, but I’m not looking to burn my mouth off just for the sake of heat,” he explained. Hot sauces allow him to enhance natural flavors rather than dominate them. His favorite hot sauces add just the right amount of spice without overwhelming the other ingredients.

Travis, who is known for his high tolerance of spicy foods, teased Jason about not being able to handle the really hot sauces. “He’s such a baby when it comes to heat,” Travis joked. But Jason stood by his preference for balanced flavor over pure capsaicin intensity. “There’s enjoying spicy food and then there’s just punishing yourself. I’m all about the former,” he responded.

While hot peppers and sauces with medium heat levels are fine for Jason, dishes centered around extreme spiciness are not as appealing to his palate. For example, he’s tried traditional Sichuan cuisine from China’s Sichuan province, famous for its liberal use of pungent chili peppers and numbing Sichuan peppercorns. However, Jason found many Sichuan dishes too overwhelmingly spicy to truly taste the other layers of flavor.

“Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate spicy Sichuan food for its bold flavors. But for me personally, I want to be able to still taste the dish beyond just heat,” Jason said. He prefers cuisines where spices complement rather than dominate other ingredients. Sichuan fare is simply too intense for his liking. The numbing sensation from Sichuan peppercorns is also not something Jason looks for in his meals.

Another extremely spicy cuisine Jason doesn’t particularly care for is authentic Mapo tofu from Sichuan. This classic Chinese dish combines tofu with a rich, spicy mince of ground pork or beef in a fiery red oil-and-chili broth. But for Jason, the heat completely overwhelms any other flavors. “It just burns your mouth. I can barely eat more than a few bites before I’m done,” he said. He’d rather enjoy tofu prepared in a less incendiary manner where he can taste the subtlety of the tofu itself.

While he’s no slouch when it comes to moderately spicy American fare like buffalo wings or Cajun jambalaya, Jason draws the line at foods centered around punishing levels of capsaicin. Even dishes with a kick of heat need to have balanced flavors for him to truly enjoy them. Take chicken vindaloo, a fiery curry from Portuguese-influenced Goan cuisine in India.

“Vindaloo is definitely on the spicier side as far as curries go. And it’s delicious, don’t get me wrong. But for me, it crosses over from spicy into just painfully hot,” Jason commented. The vinegar and garlic in vindaloo are potent flavor carriers for chili peppers, creating a bracingly piquant dish. But for Jason’s tastes, it’s too focused on intensity rather than allowing the other ingredients to shine through. He prefers Indian curries with medium levels of heat where he can taste the complex layering of spices.

Even closer to home, Jason isn’t a big fan of ultra-spicy Mexican cuisine like authentic mole poblano from Puebla. Famous as Mexico’s national dish, mole poblano combines chicken or turkey with a rich, complex sauce made from dried chilies, spices, nuts, seeds, and chocolate. But according to Jason, “The mole is so spicy, you can barely taste anything else. It’s all heat, heat, heat.” While he appreciates mole poblano’s depth of flavor, the incendiary spice level overwhelms his palate. He prefers Mexican dishes where the chilies enhance rather than define the dish.

When it comes to Thanksgiving, Jason also has some thoughts about traditional fare. His family actually preferred ham over turkey on Thanksgiving because they didn’t like the way their turkey was cooked, according to Travis. This suggests Jason may not be a huge fan of plain roasted turkey either if it’s not prepared to his liking.

However, he does enjoy turkey when it’s part of other dishes with bold flavors to complement the meat, like turkey chili. The various spices, beans, tomatoes and other ingredients in chili provide complexity beyond just the turkey itself. “Chili lets you really taste the turkey along with the other layers of flavor,” Jason noted. So while a simple roasted turkey may not excite his palate, turkey preparations with additional spices and components are more up his alley.

Interestingly, one food Jason has publicly declared to be overrated is Peeps, the iconic marshmallow candies eaten around Easter. Known for their chick and bunny shapes covered in colorful sugar, Peeps are a divisive seasonal treat. In an interview, Jason said “Peeps are just so sugary, they’re not even good.” For a self-proclaimed lover of bold flavors, the one-dimensional sweetness of Peeps doesn’t do it for him. He prefers confections with more dimension and complexity beyond just sugar.

When it comes to desserts and sweets, Jason appreciates nuanced flavors rather than pure intensity. For example, he enjoys Mexican chocolate truffles made from a blend of chocolate, cinnamon, almonds and chili peppers. “The chili adds a nice subtle kick without taking over. You get the chocolate, nuts, spices, it’s really well-balanced,” Jason commented. Even in sweets, his preference is for harmony among ingredients rather than any one element dominating.

In summary, while Jason Kelce enjoys adding heat to his meals, he draws the line at foods where spiciness overwhelms other flavors or makes the food unpleasant to eat. Moderate spice levels that enhance natural tastes are more his speed than punishing intensities focused solely on capsaicin burn. Dishes with complex layering of flavors beyond just chili peppers appeal most to his palate. When it comes to balancing boldness with balance, Jason prefers cuisines on the milder side of incendiary.