These are.
A few months ago, I bought some little tiny green peppers from an Indian deli in Davis Square, and when I asked the fellow at the counter how many peppers I should use for a big pot of curry, he suggested two. Two.
I used two in my all-time-favorite-make-it-all-the-time curry dish and registered nothing. Not even the mildest tingle. Suffice it to say I used many more the next time I cooked.
Consequently, when I bought these peppers the other day, I scoffed at the teeny warning on the label.
(very hot) it says quietly as if embarrassed or shy.
Really? I thought. Haven't I heard that one before?
Having recently heard from my dad, though, about a shopping excursion in which he came home with a pile of dried habaneros, the hottest pepper in the world, I thought it might be prudent to look up Scotch Bonnet peppers just in case. And wouldn't you know...they are also one of the hottest peppers in the world!! Right up there with the habanero on the Scoville Scale (this is a measurement based on ppm of capsaicin):
100,000 - 350,000 Habanero
100,000 - 325,000 Scotch bonnet
To compare, jalapenos are 2,500 - 5,000 on the scale. And the numbers are directly correlated, so the hottest Scotch bonnet may be one hundred and thirty times the heat of a weak jalapeno.
Now I knew the power I had in my hands.
Reading that they taste fruity - like apricots or tomatoes - beneath the tremendous heat, I couldn't wait to try them in the curry (which features tomatoes, sweet potatoes, grapes, etc), but I was terrified of handling them without doing myself an injury. They were like little orange bombs sitting in my kitchen - safe until I undid the plastic wrap.
When I finally got around to braving the whole touching, handling, deveining, deseeding, all with gloves on, they looked so innocuous. And ultimately, they were. They blended seamlessly with the curry and gave it no more bite than with the jalapenos I normally use. I was extremely disappointed (and J was very relieved).
But this was not the last of my adventures with these little kitchen bombs. More fun to come.
1 comment:
i wear disposable gloves when working with habeneros or thai chilis (80-100K). the ecogeek in me takes a backseat when i'm dealing with capsaicin. had an interesting bathroom experience once--i didn't even think skin touched skin!
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