Cooking's new heat wave

"We're doing fabulously well," says spokeswoman Margie Gibbons, "and that's a testament to the fact that people are in their own kitchens cooking." She declined to give specific growth numbers.

Some home cooks might be encouraged by the more combustible comestibles they find when they eat out. At Gourmet India in Boston, a server cautions customers who order the chicken vindaloo, a hot vinegar-and-potato dish that numbs the lips.

"Now more people know about it, and they ask for it," says manager Shekhan Goswami.

Even fast-food lovers are feeling more burn. McDonald's partly attributed a February sales bump to the introduction of its Spicy Premium Chicken sandwich, with chipotle. And Church's this month tipped its hat to spicier fare as the "silver bullet" of the fast-food sector.

Not all the action is in pre-cooked fare.

"I see a lot more mom-and-pop companies coming out of the woodwork selling ethnic foods," says Jacobs. "[Many are] garage startups that soon require warehouses," she adds, citing the two-year-old Bombay Emerald Chutney Co. Ethnic cooking "is accessible. Anybody can take a simple chicken dinner and make it elegant by adding a chutney," she says.

Ingredients abound. Even shoppers at Safeway encounter Sadef, a brand that promotes Middle Eastern foods, says Guy Garcia, author of the 2004 book "The New Mainstream," an account of rising multicultural influences across all aspects of American life. Kefir yogurt is now available at Wal-Mart and Target.

"More and more Latinos - and South Asian Indians and ethnic Chinese and Thais - are in the US consuming [their traditional] foods," Mr. Garcia says. "At the same time ... [mainstream] Americans, multicultural by choice and affinity rather than race or ethnicity, are becoming more adventurous and omnivorous.

"It's still new to a lot of us, but this idea of world cuisine becoming completely available is definitely a trend," he says.

"People are becoming more sophisticated about what it takes to make authentic dishes," concludes Beal. "It's [also] this idea that you want to accomplish something," she says, recalling her day of paella earlier this year. "[Cooking] is a framing device you can use to get together and bond."

Does your dusty old spice rack need some updating? Here are a few of the many online firms - some with retail stores - that cater to cooks interested in exploring ethnic cuisine:

penzeys.com Hundreds of herbs and spices as well as mills and containers. Sign up to receive print catalogs by mail or via download. 800-741-7787

chileplants.com Order seedlings for any of the 500 or so chili and sweet pepper plants and 132 varieties of tomato plants. (908) 996-4646

nirmalaskitchen.com Spice blends, salt blends, and more, nicely packaged. 800-522-8505

latienda.com Specializing in food and spices not traditionally available outside Spain. 888-472-1022

friedas.com A multiethnic, specialty-produce firm with stores around the US and Canada.

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