Steve Kroll
Wine Guy
I've always considered myself a chilihead. I make my own hot sauces every year and don't usually have any problems with many of the commercial ones that claim to be the hottest ((Dave's Insanity, etc). But in the last week, I've eaten a couple of things that have made me question my tolerance.
First, earlier in the week I stopped at a Wisconsin cheese factory and picked up some habanero & ghost pepper cheese. I sliced off a good-sized chunk and proceeded to eat it with reckless abandon. Truth is, it went down easier than I thought, so I had another piece and then another. It was a good minute and a half later before it hit me. I got the same look on my face that I've seen on countless others when they've played with fire. I was coughing, my eyes were watering, and I ran to the fridge to get a glass of milk. The pain didn't stop for a good 20 minutes.
The second time was yesterday. I went to Whole Foods and bought some sort of vegetarian African curry from their hot bar. It wasn't all that flavorful, but the heat... YOW! I ended up throwing it out. Not only because of the heat level, but because it just wasn't very good. If it had been delicious, I would've choked it down anyway (and probably paid for it later). I was totally caught off guard with how hot something was that they were selling at a WF buffet.
So be honest, what's YOUR heat tolerance level? I kind of draw the line at ghost peppers myself, but I'll sometimes eat them if they are used sparingly in other things.
First, earlier in the week I stopped at a Wisconsin cheese factory and picked up some habanero & ghost pepper cheese. I sliced off a good-sized chunk and proceeded to eat it with reckless abandon. Truth is, it went down easier than I thought, so I had another piece and then another. It was a good minute and a half later before it hit me. I got the same look on my face that I've seen on countless others when they've played with fire. I was coughing, my eyes were watering, and I ran to the fridge to get a glass of milk. The pain didn't stop for a good 20 minutes.
The second time was yesterday. I went to Whole Foods and bought some sort of vegetarian African curry from their hot bar. It wasn't all that flavorful, but the heat... YOW! I ended up throwing it out. Not only because of the heat level, but because it just wasn't very good. If it had been delicious, I would've choked it down anyway (and probably paid for it later). I was totally caught off guard with how hot something was that they were selling at a WF buffet.
So be honest, what's YOUR heat tolerance level? I kind of draw the line at ghost peppers myself, but I'll sometimes eat them if they are used sparingly in other things.