For those of us living in the “Chilli” stratosphere it’s been a good time of late. Our little fruit has been getting all kinds of good press. It can help cure cancer, it can help with weight loss. Hell, they can even help cure the common cold – Or so they say. Our little fruit has been embraced by everyone. And, that’s good right?
Except when it’s not.
Before I go much further, I’ll be honest and say I’ve struggled with trying to tackle this article. I’ve wanted to write it for some time, but, not seem somehow elitist at the same time. Please don’t read further and think that I’m trying to somehow show off, I’m not.
I guess, if anything I wanted to give a warning to those that like chillies, but don’t really know where to start. It’d be easy to get put off by finding the true pleasures chillies can bring by diving in with both feet to early.
People who like constant hot food are known as “Chillheads” – They, we, tend to embrace all things spicy and rarely eat a meal without some form of spice on there. This spice is normally delivered in the form of actual chillies, chilli powder, chilli flakes or hot sauce. It all depends on what you’re eating.
When you eat spicy food you experience pain. Your body doesn’t differentiate this pain from any other kind of pain and releases endorphins into your body to help deal with it. These endorphins come with a dose of dopamine which gives people a sense of pleasure. In effect, you get a sort of “high” from eating chillies.
It’s an established fact that the more spicy things you eat, the more you get used to and you begin to build up a tolerance. What you might have once considered to be “hot” over time becomes “mild”.
A true Chillihead will chase the “high” they once felt from the heat of eating chilli and look for hotter and hotter chillies to try.
As chillies have become more popular and prominent in the press more and more people are popping off to their local supermarkets and buying “hot and spicy food”. It’s getting more and more common for supermarkets to label their foods with “extra hot”, “extreme heat” or even “very very hot” with a multitude of chilli pictures…
Except that to a Chillihead, that “Flaming Fiery Phaal” curry will barely register. All the right signs are there, Scorpion and Naga chillies are indeed spicy little numbers. But whatever quantities they use aren’t enough to be of any real concern.
Now, don’t get me wrong – To a ‘normal’ person, and anecdotal evidence can confirm this, that Curry is hot, it’ll reduce some grown men to their knees and reaching for a glass of water or their beer (instead of milk 😉 ).
Some people however, will enjoy the kick of it and they’ll slowly begin to think that they do indeed like this level of ‘extreme’ heat.
And this is where the problems begin. They think they understand, but they don’t.
“Supermarket hot” (as I call it) won’t really get you very far along the road to being a true Chillihead.
I blame the supermarkets. It’s the stunts they pull like the Curry, firey warnings all over it, they’re meaningless. I’m not just blaming Morrisons for it either to be clear, they all do it.
Take Tesco for another example, in summer time they generally carry bags of “Hot Mix” chillies but if you take the time to look at the back of one of those packets, well… Take a look to see if you can see what’s wrong here…
(And it’s not ‘Birdeye’ 😉 )
Did you spot it?
Naga – “Extra Hot”, really? The same 4 chilli rating as Scotch Bonnet? Habanero?
REALLY?
I mean, c’mon. The Naga is probably the original super hot. More commonly known as the Ghost Chilli, amongst other things. It’s practically legendary. And Tesco see fit to lump it in with a Scotch Bonnet? I can’t help but wonder if the person at Tesco making these decisions is actually a massive Chillihead, or, if they don’t actually know what they’re talking about. I can however, hazard a guess.
That also wasn’t meant as a slight towards Scotch Bonnet. I LOVE Scotch Bonnet, they’re my go to chilli, the one I put on sandwiches. The one I use when I want to satisfy both me and the family when I’m cooking a meal for us all.
But, Naga? No. That isn’t going anywhere near a sandwich and nor is it going anywhere near a meal I’d cook for my kids. Well, not without warning at least.
I remember the first time I bought Naga, I was an up and coming Chillihead and I was scared of using them. Very scared. I’d put one in my Chilli and be hesitant with every bite. As times passed this is no longer an issue and I’ll more than happily chuck more than a couple in. But this is something that has come with time building up my tolerance to such things.
I’d also like to point that not once have I had something that looked like a Naga come out of those bags and it actually being close to Naga heat. But I guess that’s a different story.
Again though, those that don’t know better have now been told they can handle Naga levels of heat, and so they think they can.
Now you might think is this all pretty harmless and that I’m ranting about nothing, but, it’s when these people stumble into the real Chilliheads world that problems start to happen.
Me? I’ve plenty of stories about people telling me they like “spicy food” as well when they find out I do.
This was a couple of years ago now but I make a Chilli once a week, normally my slow cooked Chilli. Nine times out of ten I’ll have some left over, it’s become sort of the norm that I’ll give the leftovers away. Sometimes to my Dad, but mostly different people at work. It’s good eating, if I do say so myself, so there is never a shortage of people who want it.
Occasionally it comes up where my “regulars” have some left over, some sat in their freezer or they just don’t want any that week for some reason. So instead of letting it go to waste I offer it out to anyone else that might like to try it.
The last time this happened and I offered it to someone who I didn’t think would take it. He’s a good bloke, keeps himself to himself and has hardly ever taken any kind of food off anyone the whole time he has worked in our team. Surprisingly, he said yes. I was pretty chuffed to be honest.
He has heard talk about chillies, a lot. I’m probably the office bore when it comes to this kind of stuff, but even so myself and everyone else who’d tried it warned him that it would be hot. Like, really hot and probably not like anything he’d had before. He was OK with that.
Fresh feedback is good sometimes. This was pretty far from the hottest I’d made, it wasn’t going to melt anyone’s face (normally). I can’t remember the chillies I used in it but if memory serves it was one with my last Dorset Nagas, which is a pretty tasty chilli so it was an especially good one. But I do realise it falls into the “Super Hot Category” at the same time.
Ultimately however, because of the “Super Hot” thing I wasn’t OK with it. The next day when I was due to take some in for him, I changed my mind. I honestly didn’t think he knew what he was letting himself in for. When he’d sat down at his desk I made my way over and explained that I hadn’t fetched him any in as I wasn’t sure he’d like it because of the heat. I’ve never seen someone look so disappointed. I actually did feel terrible.
I was basically not going to like any outcome of this it seemed. So, I did the right thing, I’d warned him, and he is an adult after all. The very next day he had his Chilli. He was again, well warned, that it was hot.
A week or so later, I got a text telling me he was going to be eating it soon. And, well. I’ll let it speak for itself…
Pretty funny. But, not really. Speaking to him afterwards, and I quote “I didn’t realise food could be that hot”. He was OK, as was his wife, but he learned his lesson that if I said something was “hot” then he probably didn’t want to be eating it.
I’ve seen reports on Social Media from two Artisan Hot Sauce makers, Devon Chilli Man and Daddy Cools Hot Sauce about how their sauces had caused people to seek help from the Paramedics when the sauce has been tried at food fairs and festivals.
That’s because they are people more used to this;
Than this;
I’ve been to Food / Chilli festivals and have been stood around deciding which sauces to buy when I’ve heard people come up to the stalls and straight away asking “Which is the hottest?” or “Which has more Scovilles?” when they really want to sound like they know what they’re talking about.
(The Scoville Scale is the most common method for indication how spicy a chilli is for those that don’t know)
Now, both of those sauces are hot, one might say violently hot. Nil By Mouth uses capsaicin extract (6.4 MILLION SHU (Scoville Heat Units)) which will make even the more seasoned of Chilliheads pause for thought when trying a sauce with it in. It also comes in a small skull shaped bottle, that should be your first clue (It’s not even for sale on the Daddy Cool Hot Sauce site, normally you’ve to contact them directly to get your hands on it).
Cannabalastic lets the chillies do the talking alone, but those chillies are Butch T Reapers and while they have no official Scoville rating (as far as I know and at the time of writing) I’d put money on them being in the SHU for these being in the millions as well. And that sauce is 9% Butch T Reaper. Nine, percent. Nine.
If you’re only used to Supermarket “hot sauce” then both of these sauces are going to take you outside and have a not so quiet word in your ear while punching you heavily in the stomach and almost certainly making their presence known and definitely not welcome in other parts of the body later on in your day.
Hence the need to bother paramedics at food fairs.
All of this isn’t about bravado, it’s not about being macho. I certainly don’t think any less of someone just because they can’t enjoy the food I like in the same way that I do. I definitely don’t expect praise or any kind of laudits for being able to handle the heat in food the way I do.
It’s about managing expectations. So, you like spicy food? That’s great. Just don’t rush straight into the hottest thing you can find straight away.
Very importantly if you come across someone who eats the stuff all the time warning you that its hot, take that warning. Don’t assume just because you can eat a Vindaloo, or even a Phall, from your local Indian that you can take the heat. There is a very real chance that you can’t.
Most “Chilli” food outside of supermarkets and in the Artisan world is infinitely better than the stuff you can get in the supermarkets and it’ll take you on a wild ride of taste. There is something for everyone, from mild to wild.
If you’re wanting “more heat”, then work your way up the Scoville scale at your own pace and don’t rush to the top.
Yes, you’ll probably make a few mistakes along the way. We all have. I’ve made several myself. One of the reasons I won’t eat raw chillies past a certain point (Scotch Bonnet) is because of a misadventure with a Moruga Scorpion a few years ago. Tongue, numb, Cheeks, numb. Loss of feeling in one side of my face.
Yeah, I didn’t do that again. But, it doesn’t stop me cooking with them today.
If you’re at a Food or Chilli festival and you want to try something a little out of your comfort range, head for the middle of the pack and work your way up from there, or down if needs be. Nobody is going to think anything less of you; but they might gain some amusement from you starting at the top and failing straight away. If in doubt, ask the guy behind the stall, they’ll be happy to advise.
It could even be said that most true Chilliheads can be quite humble about the amount of heat they can take. I certainly don’t broadcast it. I’ll quite happily eat some of the hottest chillies in the world for breakfast and not bat an eyelid. The same can be said for most I know.
But yet I’ve also seen others claim to grate raw Carolina Reaper pods onto their eggs in a morning, like they’re some kind of hero for doing it.
Besides which, a true Chillihead also knows that Carolina Reaper might have the official title of worlds hottest, but there are others out there to find 😉
It’s always worth remembering that it’s not all about the heat when it comes to being a Chillihead. It’s about the taste, the spice, the overall want (need) to not eat bland food. Not all the sauces out there want to take your head off with heat. Some of them want to gently caress and tantalise your taste buds.
There is a lot to be said for the lower end of the Scoville scale, the classic Jalapeno, the not quite as well known as it should be Aji Limon amongst others. They offer up a nice spicy kick without going to far and the taste is amazing.
In closing, I’ll say this.
Once you’ve found your comfort zone, hang out there for a while. Let your body get used to being there and once you find yourself wanting more, then head a little up the lane to the next stop.
It’ll be a much more pleasant ride.
LIke you, I tolerate raw Scotch Bonnets or their cousins the Habaneros, but anything above that must be cooked and used in small percentages. I’ve found myself feeling like I was detached from reality and hovering above the ground after tasting almost any of the extract-based sauces (especially Dan Reed’s Chilli Of The Valley “Phwoar Koff and Dai”, which comes with a full disclaimer on the back of the bottle. Heed it!). I find this “race to the hottest” a bit scary really. Yes, tolerance builds up over time, and you can start chasing hotter and hotter sauces. But, and it’s a big but, tolerance also drops off (rapidly) if you fall off the capsaicin wagon, even for a hsort while. And many chilli heads forget this, and they get a shock at how their body reacts. And it’s not just the mouth, lips and throat. The endorphin rush has reportedly caused hallucinations in some. And then there is the gut bomb/cramps/indigestion which can last for hours and cripple even the “tough guys”. The less said about “the ring of fire” the better….. but I still prefer to refer to it as “the bottom rocket”…..
I’ve not tried a lot of the extract sauces to be honest, just a couple – The Nil By Mouth from Daddy Cool is the only one I’ve actually bought, I tend to put a small amount of that *in* things rather than *on* them. (It’s a very nice flavourful sauce without the normal after taste you get from the extract).
I’ve never actually fallen off the wagon, I tend to have some kind of spice with every meal these days – Most food is just bland to me without it now, I’ve a key ring full of chilli flakes and a bottle of sauce in the seat pocket of my car – Rare I leave home without it!
That said, I can relate – There are certain sauces on the top end of the scale that I don’t use much and it’s been commented on that I normally always say “I forgot how hot that was” after I’ve used them LOL
I’ve always managed to avoid getting cramps fortunately, like you said you need to stay respectful when you get to the top end of the scale – Luckily the “bottom rocket” effect wore off for me a while back so don’t really get that anymore, reason enough to stay on that wagon though if you ask me – I’ve had a few regrets in my time.
Excellent write-up Paul, couldn’t put it better myself…had a sly smile to myself remembering a similar experience with a work colleague; Boasting about the “Super lava hot STAGG chilli” he once had, nothing is hot enough. So I brought in a batch of my finest chilli-con-carne featuring fresh Naga’s, Habs, Maruga & Butch T Trinidad scorpion peppers and offered some, along with a warning to said colleague…of course he bigged it up, but only 5 spoonfuls in, with sweat pouring off him, nose running…he was well and truly humiliated! He did it to himself; but it did make me think at the time
“Supermarket labels are not really very accurate when describing chilli heat.”
As you say, many supermarkets have things labelled “Extreme” or “Very very hot” with cautioning warnings slapped all over the packaging, but as any self-respecting chilli-head will tell you, measuring heat and balancing flavours is a delicate and subtle art. Too many times; something which is labelled “Very hot” is actually pretty mild. Case in point when we last went to Nando’s my wife asked for medium heat, but I messed up the order and got the hottest they do, my wife ate it no problem, even said she might go for “hot” next time, before I realised by mistake and found the flag on the plate saying “Extra hot”. Now when we get the packets from the shop she always asks me to get the “Very hot” which is the hottest they do, but she doesn’t have a problem with that level of heat/spice…HOWEVER; she cannot touch my hot chilli, despite using many of the same chilli peppers in the recipe, which to my mind says it all…
One final note, a friend once bought me a bottle of “Blair’s Mega Death” hot sauce, it was crazy hot; but in a “vinegary” way which I don’t really go for, I prefer savoury well-balanced full mouthfeel sauces. It was going out of date a few months later, so I decided to use half a bottle up in the next chilli-con-carne I cooked. I bravely endured the plateful and felt fairly proud of myself (even have it on video somewhere)…AND THENNNN…5 hours later; as Graham states above, the gut bomb/cramps crippled me something awful, I was literally glued to the bog for over an hour!! These days though like you Paul I don’t really get the “Bottom Rocket” effect…but hey; Every day’s a school day and we all need to learn from our mistakes (even my work colleague 😉
I love hot food. Went to Uni in Manchester and lived in Rusholme eating vindaloo and Phall most days. Many of the restaurants knew me. This got me into various chillies and I’m always looking to try new variants.
A few years ago (maybe 2014/5) I was at a chilli fair at a place called Holker Hall in Cartmel Cumbria with my brother (I’m from Cumbria originally). My brother said to me what’s the hottest thing you will eat (knowing fine well that I used to eat vindaloo for breakfast) and I said “probably anything”.
He returned 10 minutes later with a raw chilli pepper and suggested I eat it. I promptly ate the whole raw pepper in one go, chewing it up fully across my entire mouth and swallowing it.
I was quickly plunged into an hour long hallucinogenic episode, with my ears ringing increasingly loudly and then eventually popping (depressurising like on an airplane). All of the mucus membranes in my face (nostrils, throat, ears, eyes, etc) pouring with fluids. My face was completely numb and also tingling with electricity. For some reason I removed my shoes to “allow my feet to breath”.
The heat was so intense that even with my mouth sealed and breathing through my nose, my own breath produced an intense burning sensation around my nostrils.
Once you go down this road nothing (NOTHING) will cool the sensation. I would guess all of my cellular biology systems related to capsicum and capsaicin where tripped out / saturated / exhausted. I don’t think anything with more Scovilles could produce a bigger physiological response other than toxicity.
I was OK though, I didn’t make a scene or draw a crowd. I was sitting at a table just simmering away in a world of solipsism. I really enjoyed it. I had an enormous euphoric feeling throughout. I trusted the sensation because it fit my expectations of what was possible with chilli.
This was about 2014 / 2015 and the chilli I ate was some new experimental version of the naga viper from the same guys who produced the original naga.
I didn’t taste a thing, I went straight past flavour into some other realm of sensation. From experience I think you can max out your taste buds with a really hot dish, there comes a point where having done that a few times you know what that feels like. But this certainly went far beyond any experience your taste buds could produce. It was endocrine.
That chilli just switched off the outside world and the experience I had was of being alone with my own thoughts and my own ability to self discipline the desire to fight the pain. Like swimming in lava.
Would I do that again? Maybe once a year, or once every two years. But absolutely not on a regular basis.