According to some gastronomists, American cuisine can be defined by eight flavors. The oldest is black pepper (the spice of choice for Martha Washington), while the newest staple in the culinary repertoire is sriracha, the iconic spicy rooster sauce.

The hot sauce’s trajectory has taken it from Vietnamese staple to potato chip flavoring. Today the most well known sriracha brand is from Huy Fong Foods, and every single bottle of Huy Fong Sriracha is made in one factory, in Irwindale, California.

In this episode of Gastropod, historical gastronomist Sarah Lohman describes how jalapeños go from farm to sauce in just three hours.