Instructions
It’s a little odd, you know, the way we human beings celebrate pain.
Now if you’re sitting around reading this in a latex suit and ball-gag, well I’m not talking about you specifically, but rather our species more generally.
In part we make pain voyeuristic – think rugby and boxing. In part we make it aesthetic – think tattooing and stiletto heels. In part we make it emotional – think teen angst or ‘Sex and the City’.
But the most bizarre of all if the way in which we have made pain into a cultural experience. That’s right, I’m talking about food. Hot food. Really hot food.
There are a handful naturally-occurring chemicals found in a variety of foods that create the sensation of heat when eaten by humans, although strangely enough most animals can’t sense them. Anyone who has watched birds attack their chilli crop can attest to this.
From the capsaicin in chillies, to the piperine of black pepper, or even the incomprehensible hydroxy-alpha-sanshool found in Chinese Sichuan pepper, the level of intensity will vary according to the variety, the ripeness of the fruit or berry, seasonal variations, and the amount of time it has been stored.
Wilbur Scoville developed a scale for measuring the heat of chillies in 1912. His method measures the number of times a chilli’s oil must be diluted in water before its heat can be detected. Red capsicums rate 0; Tabasco rates 2,500; red birdseye chilli rate 5,500; while the Dorset Naga chilli (a Bangladeshi native) rates a remarkable 1,598,227 Scoville units.
Seriously. Who eats that?
Yet a measured use of chilli brings an entirely new character out in many dishes. Vindaloo balances hot and sour, Thai curries add sweet to the equation, Hainanese noodles blend salty and hot.
But for my take, great Mexican food is amongst the very best, particularly as their chefs add smoke flavours to the heat of chilli to create a dynamic and unique taste. They principally rely on the chipotle, a hickory-smoked jalapeno chilli. While you can buy it dried, you’ll most commonly find it canned ready-to-use with an adobo-style tomato and paprika sauce.
Still too hot? Avoid drinking water, and go for sour cream, yoghurt or milk instead – water only increases the burn. Oh and maybe a chaser of toughen-up juice, because remember, it’s the pain that lets us know we are alive.
Pollo Rojo: Yucatan red chicken with chipotle sauce