Posted on 07/31/2007 12:19:41 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
NEW DELHI - I know people who regularly eat bhut jolokias — the "ghost chili" now rated as the world's hottest pepper. They're nice people. I like them. They don't seem crazy.
Appearances are deceiving.
I ate an entire bhut jolokia the other night, sitting at my dining room table with an open beer and — on the advice of the experienced — a bowl of yogurt and a few slices of bread at the ready.
I had the strange fear that nothing would happen, that I had traveled halfway across India in search of a chili that would be no hotter than an apple. I thought I was prepared.
What followed was a gastronomic mugging.
I know, I know. You probably think I'm exaggerating, or maybe just inexperienced in the ways of chilis.
"I like hot peppers," you're saying to yourself, thinking of those times — you were probably in college, maybe your early 20s — when you'd had too much to drink and challenged a friend to a chili-pepper-eating contest. You slopped down one jalapeno after another, enjoying the way it battered your system.
I used to think like that too. But that was before my encounter the other night, when I took the first nibble from the end of a red vegetable barely two inches long and weighing little more than a sheet of paper.
"Not too bad," I said aloud to the empty room. My ignorance lasted about three seconds.
It was hot. Hotter than anything I'd ever eaten. My tongue burned, I began to cough.
I knew I'd have to eat quickly, or I wouldn't be able to finish it. So I took another bite, and chewed. Then another. I ate down to the stem. I swallowed.
It's not how bhut jolokias are normally eaten — most locals use them in sauces, or chew off tiny pieces between bites of their main course — but I figured I should get the full experience (Plus, let me add, one of my editors suggested this exercise in masochism: Thank you, Ken).
The full experience?
It was awful. My eyes watered uncontrollably and my nose ran. I felt like I was gargling with acid. My hands quivered. As the minutes passed, the pain grew worse.
I shoveled in yogurt: No relief. I chewed bread: Nothing. My head felt like it was expanding. My ears felt as if hot liquid was draining from them. Picture one of those old Tom and Jerry cartoons, with steam blasting from Tom's ears as a train whistle blows. That was me.
The experts say beer and water do no good at such times. Maybe that's true, but gulps of very cold beer were the only things that helped me — washing away the pain for a few blessed seconds.
Twenty minutes later, I had recovered enough to speak clearly. So I called my wife in New York, where she is on vacation with our children. She laughed at me.
A day later, my tongue felt as if it had been scrubbed with a wire brush.
And a day after that, a friend made me a lunch flavored with bhut jolokias.
It was a traditional meal from Nagaland, the northeastern state along the Myanmar border where my friend was born, and where super-hot chilis are a part of life. There was diced chicken and hunks of pork and a cold stew of fermented tofu beans, all spiced with the chilis.
The food was simple, delicious. It was mild by the standards of Nagaland, just one bhut jolokia or so for each dish. I loved it.
I just hope she couldn't see that my eyes were again watering.
I can’t say it’s my favorite thing to do. I used to pack a fresh raw Jalapeno in my lunch as a desert so I’ve got a pretty good tolerance. I’m also a fan of really hot salsas.
My wife says that pain is not a flavor. I disagree.
I concur with your assessment... :)
I try to stick to petroleum jelly.
Habanero about 20,000
Jalapeno 2-3,000
Oh Good Lord, I cannot comprehend the burn from that...........
Try some Mad Dog sometime. Dave's is ketchup in comparison...........
Bad Day at Baghdad Red Habanero Hot Sauce 5oz: Saddam's Final Warning! Baghdad... now just a sandbox in the desert.
Endorsed by:
UN Weapons Inspectors,
The President,
CIA, FBI,
Israelis, KGB,
Hells Angels, The Mafia,
Allah, The Teamsters,
Kuwaitis, Mickey & Minnie,
Rambo, Yasir Arafat, 200 Million Americans, and You.
Heat Rating: 9 Ingredients: Habanero Peppers, Vinegar,
Onion, Garlic, Pepper Extract, Spices, and Vegetable Gum.
Not the hottest sauce in town, but It WILL make your eyes tear.
LOL! One of my favorite “Simpsons” scenes.
ping
You are absolutely correct.
The last time I ate chili with beans in it was at Shoney’s.
Go figure.
Hot pepper PING!
Ms.B
I ate a mountain chile in mexico about the size of a pea that left me breathless and in tears for about 15 mins!
I finally had to throw it out. No one could eat it. 1 drop would be enough for people to call it quits
I love the park were Homer approaches the Chili pot twirling the wooden spoon like a gunslinger in a spaghetti western and Lenny says to Carl “You see that spoon? Legend has it that he carved from a bigger spoon”
I've been pepper sprayed by accident - I helped a LEO apprehend a guy who'd been spiced up and I wrestled him to the ground so he could be cuffed. He was spicier than a bushel of Mexican Jalapenos and when I wrapped my arms around his neck, I ruined my shirt and pants from the dye. I got it in my eyes and nose, inhaled a quantity of it and everywhere my skin contacted it and then something else felt like I'd had a massage with an orbital sander and 80 grit paper.
This 'Bhut jolokia' pepper sounds like an ember from hell...
Wonder why its name resembles "butt joke"? Betcha'd find out in six hours or so....
Oh just great. Now we’ll have to try and grow those too...
I just knew this was going to be a good thread :)
Anyone up for Scotch Bonnets? I think we’ve got some growing in the garden.
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