Q: Dear Dave,Last night at a restaurant I ate an hors d’oerve dish that the place challenges people to finish, presumably because it is so hot. Few do it. It is made up of 5 habanero chile fritters and habanero hot sauce for dipping. Going down was painful, but do-able. When it hit my stomach, though, I felt a low …
Heat Scale: African Fatali & White Bullet
Q: Dear Dave,Has the heat level in the African Fatali or the White Bullet been tested yet? I believe they are as hot as the Red Savina.–Darrell A: Hello Darrell:They probably have been tested somewhere, but I don’t have the results in my files. I agree with you, however.–Dave
Increasing Tolerance for Spicy Foods
Q: Hi Dave,I will be moving to Thailand in a few months and would like to increase my tolerance for spicy foods before I go. So my question is this: Is the increase in the amount of capsaicin that I can tolerate caused by repeated and increased exposure of spicy foods on the tongue, or in the digestive tract? If …
Why Chiles Make Us Sweat
Q: Dear Dave,I have a fairly flavorless question Dave: Why do we sweat (especially around the eyes) when we use a potent hot pepper sauce?Thank you, Cameron. A: Hello Cameron:The capsaicin in chiles is perceived by the body as a poison that must be removed, so the result of eating hot stuff is gustatory rhinitis (runny nose) and gustatory perspiration (sweating).–Dave
Do Green Chiles Get Hotter as They Turn Red?
Q: Hi Dave,We have an office dispute here… Do green chiles (New Mexico) get hotter as they turn red? Is there a heat difference in the "heat" of a green chile dried on the plant vs. those dried by hanging or other methods?Thanks a fiery bunch, Randy A: Hello Randy:The amount of capsaicin in the pods does not increase as the …