How Hot Is It?My love for hot foods, has led me to many places, to sample the firey foods and sauces, in search of the perfect burn. I've even raised my own Scotch Bonnet peppers (Habaneros) in my quest for heat. Habaneros have extreme heat, many times hotter than any other pepper. They also are very eye appealing, small crumpled pods turning from a medium green, to vibrant yellow and orange. Use care when harvesting, handling, cooking, and eating these peppers, as for the novice, the heat is incredible.
I grew up in an area where many farmers raised hot peppers. They raised Cherry Peppers, and Italian Long Hots. Later years, they started growing Hot Banana Peppers, too. As a youngster, I remember eating Cherry Peppers and thinking they were hot, enjoyed the burn. Well, I guess I burned out my taste buds, as today, I can eat tons of them, and hardly feel a tingle. It takes more heat to create that fiery feeling. Although I find Habaneros a little too hot to eat straight, they are great to add to foods and sauces to bring up the heat level. A few Habs, added to a jar of other peppers, will jump up their heat level. Chopped up, they will add real heat to salsa, and stews. Fried (until almost black) with some onions, garlic and mushrooms, makes a nice condiment for steak sandwiches. Commercially available Habanero sauces have become popular, and make a great heat inducer for Buffalo Wings, one of my favorites. If your truly a lover of hot stuff, give Habaneros a try.
Beating the HeatThe hot sensation caused by chili and other hot peppers is from a compound called capsaicin. It has just the right shape to lock onto nerve endings, or receptors, inside your mouth and on your lips. Once that connection is made, the nerves send signals to the brain that your brain interprets as pain. Just to make sure you get the message, capsaicin triggers nerves to release another chemical, substance P, which also generates pain signals.
Swishing cold water around your mouth momentarily stops the burning, but the capsaicin is still latched onto the receptors, the pain returns. (Actually, many people consider this sensation pleasurable.) Milk contains a protein called casein that knocks capsaicin off the receptors and settles onto them itself, says Dr. Robert Henkin, director of the Taste and Smell Clinic in Washington, DC. Warm milk may be the best fire extinguisher of all, "but when your mouth is on fire, I can't imagine waiting around for someone to heat up some milk.," says Henkin.
If there isn't any milk handy, try sugar water, or a sweet soda, suggested the food science researchers at the University of California, Davis, whose 1990 study, "Temporal effectiveness of mouth-rinsing on capsaicin mouth burn," was published in the journal Physiology and Behavior.
One interesting note: Even though capsaicin causes your mouth to burn, it is being used as a pain reliever for a variety of ailments.
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