Hot Stuff

I love hot sauce. I love hot peppers.

I put it on everything I can. Pizza. Rice. Veggies. Popcorn.

I recently stumbled across an old article about some hot-sauce imbibing youths, so naturally I was hot to read it.

According to the article, some German teens drank some hot sauce more than 200 times hotter than normal Tabasco

The youths - ages 13 and 14 - took part in a "test of courage." They subsequently felt sick, and 8 of the 10 who took part were taken to the hospital and had to stay overnight.

The sauce the teens ingested measured 535,000 units on the Scoville scale. That's the scale that determines hotness in chili peppers. Good old Tabasco sauce (yes, there's a bottle of that in my fridge) measures 2,500.

So what did they consume? I'd like to know the brand. A dash or two on some chips? Hmm

Yeah, I know this is kind of a guy thing. When I was young and stupid in college, I was noted for eating hot food. People used to bring hot peppers to challenge my tongue and palate. Sometimes I'd be challenged by other hot food consumers. A burn your face off. All guys, of course. 

I never lost.

Of course, they may never have given me some of the truly hot, mind-numbing peppers that were out there. And I never drank hot sauce. Well, except for an occasional sip.

That was years ago. I still use hot sauces and eat peppers. We grow some in our garden - jalapeno, cherry bomb, and serrano mainly. Mild ones, really. But they freeze well. In fact, I added some jalapeno to my pizza tonight. 

As for the hotter ones, I have occasionally bought some habanero, but that's about as hot as I get.

Unless someone wants to challenge me ... 

Pax et bonum