Adding HEAT to HOT: Spice it up!

When surveyed as to what comes to mind when one thinks of “hot”, the majority of the people I asked recently answered degrees, tropical weather, and sunny beaches, while a few others thought of exotic cars or sexy celebrities. When I think of hot, my mind wanders to the wonderful realm of chili peppers (genus Capsicum)!  My mouth waters at the mere mention of hot sauce and chilis, and my taste buds crave the tantalizing, zesty spice experience and culinary journey that only the different Capsicum species can deliver. I am not alone in my obsession with heat. There seems to be a movement towards spicy food in North America, which has steadily increased over the last thirty years and has spurred the advent of magazines and events dedicated to spicy food, such as the United States’ Chile Pepper magazine and Web site -- featuring an array of recipes, with “zest factors” ranging from mild to hot -- the Fiery Food Challenge competition and the annual Zest Fest food show.

Image by Suranika Dias

How it all began…or close to it…

Although the search for the first site of home-grown chilis continues, the use of domesticated -- not wild -- chili species in some parts of the world predated even the invention of pottery. There are more than twenty species of chilis, but almost all of the domesticated forms belong to one of five: Capsicum annuum, Capsicum baccatum, Capsicum chinense, Capsicum frutescens, and Capsicum pubescens (Kilham C., Psyche Delicacies, 2001). The journal Science (February 2007) reported that fossil evidence shows prehistoric people from southern Peru up to the Bahamas were cultivating varieties of chilis millennia before Columbus's arrival brought the spice to world cuisine. The earliest traces found were from south-western Ecuador (far from the wild chilis that flourish in Bolivia and Brazil), where families spiced up meals with home-grown peppers about 6,100 years ago. The microfossils found suggest vitamin C-rich chilis were usually mixed with corn and a few other foods, not just used as a spice.

For more information on the history of the chili pepper, I found these Web sites useful:  http://ushotstuff.com/history.htm, http://www.fiery-foods.com/dave2/domestication.asp.

So what gives the chili pepper that zing and why is the heat range so diverse, ranging from very mild to extremely wild?

The particular class of substances that determine their disposition is known as capsaicinoids, commonly referred to as capsaicin (the chemical in chili peppers responsible for their heat). It is the slight structural variations in the hydrocarbon tails of the different capsaicin-like compounds found in chilis that vary their ability to bind to the nerve receptors on the tongue, mouth, and throat (http://ushotstuff.com). This may explain why some chilis burn in the mouth while others burn in the throat.

But why do chilis “burn”, and why are they referred to as “hot”?

This is because capsaicin opens a channel in the cell membrane that allows calcium ions to flood into the cell, triggering a pain signal that is transmitted to the neighbouring cells (http://ushotstuff.com). This pain is much like the pain experienced when one is exposed to heat (i.e., a flame) because heat and chili burns are similar at the molecular, cellular, and sensory levels. Don’t let that stop you, though!

Feel the heat!

In fact, a good jolt of capsaicin excites the nervous system into producing endorphins, which promotes an elated sense of well-being that can last for up to several hours. This "high" makes spicy foods mildly addictive and, for some like myself, an obsession. People that eat a lot of spicy capsaicin-rich foods, however, can build up a tolerance to it and become somewhat desensitized to the extreme heat of the "hotter" chilis, allowing their palates to explore the many diverse flavours offered by the vast variety of chilis available from around the world.

Hot remedy: the “aahhh” factor!

If you are still building your chili tolerance, remember that capsaicinoids are insoluble (i.e., will not dissolve) in water but are very soluble in fats, oils and alcohol.  This explains why drinking oodles of water after accepting a dare to bite into an extremely hot raw habanero will not stop that burning sensation (or your anguish and suffering). Although downing a cold beer is a better option than drinking water, the low percentage of alcohol will not wash away much of the capsaicin and the burn will endure. For some relief from a chili burn, the best traditional remedy is to drink whole milk or eat whole milk yogurt or ice cream. This is because milk contains casein, a lipophilic or fat-loving substance that surrounds and washes away the fatty capsaicin molecules, cleansing the palate for MORE (aahhh relief!)!

What’s in a name?

“Tingly”, “sultry”, “XXX”, “beware”, “insane”, “suicide”, and “slaughter” are some names used to describe the different kinds of commercially available hot sauces.  Heed the name and beware!  For example, Torchbearer Sauces’ super fancy #42 Slaughter Sauce claims to be the world’s hottest natural hot sauce, with 67, 582 Scoville units. Packed with habaneros, the sauce is said to “start out sweet and then build slowly to something excruciating and delightful…this one will make you feel each and every one of its 67,582 Scoville units”.

One HOT unit!

In 1912, a pharmacist named Wilbur Scoville invented the “Scoville Organoleptic Test” to measure the heat level of chili peppers (http://ushotstuff.com).  A "Scoville Unit" is a measure of capsaicin.

In the original test, Scoville blended pure ground chilis with sugar-water, and a panel of testers then sipped the solution, in increasingly diluted concentrations, until they reached the point at which the liquid no longer burned their mouths. A number was then assigned to each chili pepper based on how much it needed to be diluted before they could no longer taste or feel the heat.

Although Scoville's test is considered a subjective dilution-taste procedure by today's standards and a more sophisticated method has been adopted, in honour of Wilbur Scoville, the unit of measure is still called the Scoville.

The heat factor or pungency of chili peppers is measured in multiples of 100 units.  Since the capsaicin level in chili peppers can vary from plant to plant due to local environmental conditions, a pepper's rating is an average measure. The following are some commonly used, along with some extremely hot, chili peppers and their Scoville heat units:

Sweet Bell                      0
Pimento                          0
El-Paso                          500 ~ 700
Poblano                         1,000 ~ 2,000
Jalapeno                        2,500 ~ 8,000
Chipotle                         5,000 ~ 8,000
Tabasco                        30,000 ~ 50,000
Cayenne                        30,000 ~ 50,000
Thai                                50,000 ~ 100,000
Jamaican Hot                 100,000 ~ 200,000
Orange Habanero          50,000 ~ 325,000
Scotch Bonnet               150,000 ~ 325,000
Chocolate Habanero      300,000 ~ 425,000
Red Savina Habanero    350,000 ~ 575,000
Dorset Naga                   800,000 ~ 900,000
Naga Jolokia                   800,000 ~ 1,001,300
Pure Capsaicin               15,000,000-16,000,000

The hottest pepper on record, the Naga or Bhut Jolokia, has a pungency of 1,001,304 Scoville heat units, to be exact. Although I have experienced the Scotch Bonnet and Red Savina habanero, it is with great awe, respect, and trepidation that I someday aspire to taste the amazing power of the Naga Jolokia chili pepper! So remember, whether your tolerance is at 0 or 200,000 Scoville heat units, you CAN build tolerance to the heat (sweat in the process) and spice food up to explore a whole new culinary experience. Happy delicious burns!

© 2008 Suranika Dias; licensee (Cult)ure Magazine.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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