One Pepper to Rule Them All…

It’s no secret to anyone that knows me that I love spicy food. The hotter the better. My burritos cause misery. My chili causes casualties. I even ate a raw habanero one time (but that’s a whole other story…). So I was very excited to hear that New Mexico State University has discovered the hottest chili pepper in the world: The Bhut Jolokia. Look at the thing. It just looks evil. All red and wrinkled like Satan’s nutsack.

For those of you not into the sado-masochistic world of spicy food, heat is measured in something called Scoville Units. It’s a measure of the amount of the heat-causing compound capsaicin. As a matter of comparison, green bell peppers rate a big fat 0 Scoville Units. Jalapenos come in between 2,500 and 8,000. Habaneros get up to 350,000. These Bhut Jolokias got a 1,001,304. Yep you read that right. On a different scale, jalapenos make you say “Huh, that was kind of spicy”. Habeneros make you say “holy fucking shit, I’m retarded for putting that in my mouth.” So I’m imagining Bhut Jolokias make you pass out. Bring it on! Can’t wait to mix up a batch of chili with these things. Who’s in?