Some Like It Hot, but a New Pepper Is Bred for the Rest

NY Times ^ | November 21, 2004 | RALPH BLUMENTHAL

[angkor]

Thai peppers

Agreed. Long before I knew better, I chomped down on one of them at a Thai restaurant. The staff brought a dish of coconut ice cream as the cure. It worked.

Later I discovered the Thai condiment "prik paha", which is a very small dish of fish sauce with one or two chopped up red or green chiles mixed in. This stuff is addictive, and soon it was on my omlets, rice, noodles, everything.

[wizr]

"Judge # 3 (Frank) -- Holy s**t! What the hell is this stuff? You could remove dried paint from your driveway. Took me two beers to put the flames out...."

I call me wife's chile verde "Two Beer Chili Verde", 'cause when it's made right, ya definitely need a couple o' beers to go with it.

Strange thing about chilis. The heat content changes from batch to batch. Must be a whole lot of "breeding" going on out there.

[Junior]

There's nothing worse than what might be a good bowl of chili that's impossible to eat because of the heat.

Amen!

[Atlas Sneezed]

There are hundreds of different types of chilies. Why bother breed a mild habanero when there are scores of other mild peppers to choose from?

[Atlas Sneezed]

I ate those with salt and beer. Then I went poopy the next day and haven't touched them since:)

---

I once had a habanero experience that left me the next morning singing Johnny Cash's "Burnin' Ring of Fire." (Also the name of a fine collection of hot sauces.)

[Atlas Sneezed]

After eating Habaneros, and it comes time to have a bowel movement, you'd better have a seatbelt and a fire extinguisher handy!

---

I enjoyed the article's discussion of the utility of a snowcone for finishing this process.

[punster]

For some real zing: Try eating habanero straight.

[evets]

TOO HOT!?!? Then don't eat it!

Savina habenero!!! 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.. 'Scoville' units!!! (kidding, but they're hot.)

[SouthTexas]

They've been doing this to the jalapeno for years, now the habenero.

Title should be "PC crowd attacks peppers!!"

[Paridel]

I have yet to hear of anyone dying from eating habaneros

True, I've never died from eating hot food... but every once and a while I'll eat something and wish that I would. ;-)

A good example is particularly spicy versions of the New Mexican favorite carne ada vada... something that has kept my lying awake in bed cursing my idiotic earlier self on more than one occasion.

-paridel

[dangus]

>>I had to dump grated cheese on it, and my dog kept running to the water dish after every bite.<<

But he kept coming back! That's hysterical!

[null and void]

Ahhh. The litttle purple ones the Thai call 'rat droppings'...

[R. Scott]

The Boogie enjoys chili, burritos – actually, anything that I cook. He demands his 10%.

[null and void]

That sounds like 'prik num bah' to me...

[Xenalyte]

Amen! Preach it, Brother Dog! Testify!

[angkor]

sounds like 'prik num bah'

Hmmm, never had any problems ordering it in Thailand. Maybe there are different pronunciations?

[watchin]

The hotter the better :) I spent two weeks in Thailand last January ... man, do they know how to spice things up.

[null and void]

Probably I've heard both prik and pik used for sauce.

Like oil and awl...

[tiki]

We grow long green chile and you would be surprised how few really want HOT. We grow varieties that are as mild as bell peppers so that we can sell them to the masses. OTH, they have bred some chile that is hotter than you can believe! The people picking them have to wear gloves and masks.