  It's been a strange year in the suburban home garden. Honey yield in the state is reported as 85% down on previous years. That's a worry for a start. The avocado tree, the pride of the garden, will not offer anything this year; small fruit was blown away in several storms and then the heat polished off the rest. Nashi pears are not too bad, tomatoes, woeful although those that made it were superb. Any excess is with the figs and something we don't use much, chillies. Oh, they are handsome, robust, plentiful and handsome. The punnet of three assorted seedlings was a mistake as we're not sure what we have. A brief tasting with our Bhutanese garden helper identified "birds-eye" (very hot), long and thin (hot) and cute and chubby (benign). I urged her to take away as many birds-eyes as possible. The heat of a chilli was "codified" by Wilbur Scoville, an American, in 1912. The pungent heat comes from capsaicin and is measured in SHUs (Scoville Heat Units). To illustrate, your basic red or green capsicum is at zero SHUs whereas Police Grade capsicum spray is around 16,000,000 SHUs. Some approximate SHUs Espelette 1,000 Poblano 1,000 Jalapeño 3,500 Serrano 15,000 Cayenne 30,000 Tabasco 30,000 Scotch Bonnet 150,000 Habanero 300,00 At left, the Carolina Reaper, the world's hottest chilli as of 2019. It's the result of selective breeding and world record holder since 2013. It comes in at a whopping 2,200,000 SHUs! Check YouTube for blokes (yes, sorry, it is mainly men) who sit around with other blokes and suffer, cry, groan, and writhe, the huge dose of capsaicin tearing through the delicate tissue of their innards. (Then, they do it again.) The following day must be terrifying. Seeds are probably available online but you have to to admit it's one hell of an evil looking dude!  My chillies (in a Tunisian couscous bowl) from the top and clockwise...
Birds-eye, I think - very hot, next, long & thin - hot, finally, plump and fruity and totally benign. (Can you identify?) The heat thing is something I simply don't understand. I want flavour and a "small" kick. Too much is just not gastronomically delicious. There, I've said it. Anyway, in the interest of using up some produce, today I make a fig and chilli chutney. I use a tried and true fig jam recipe and simply add a fair amount of fresh garlic and some chillies. The result is not too bad. I'll now give myself heartsease and make a cake. Comment below or like 👍🏼 ckfood@ozemail.com.au facebook.com/itsnotthelastsupper
5 Comments
Stephanie
11/3/2019 10:21:13 pm
Cath, I agree entirely regarding the incomprehensibility of adding heat to food just to test our ability to survive it. It's not always safe to indulge in such competitive consumption. Years ago, in my radio days, I filled in as host for a news show. The producer wanted me to do a story about a new store that sold peppers in all forms. In my ignorance and for the sake of thorough reporting, I agreed to eat whatever was presented to me. I hadn't researched well beforehand and trusted the store's owner not to try to kill me. He put an entire pickled habanero pepper on a spoon and gave it to me to put in my mouth. We had to stop the interview. My central nervous system went haywire. For a while my hearing disappeared and I was generally disoriented. I was scheduled to work an on-air shift that evening, and had to lie down between every announcement. 1/4/2019 11:48:57 am
I have re-told this story now many times! Atrocious!
Kym
17/3/2019 07:55:00 pm
It was several years that I saw a Scoville chart. I was absolutely amazed what it went up to, particularly when I thought I was a big deal being able to eat a pizza with a few Jalapenos. 1/4/2019 11:52:58 am
Yes, it'a shame there is not more "notice" around chillies, perhaps like alcohol content of wines and spirits. This would help not only in restaurants where chilli is important but in greengrocers. I have little idea of what I'm buying. I'm in the dark and think naïvely the larger, the least painful.
Cyrus
4/4/2019 09:03:32 pm
Nice blog post Catherine! Leave a Reply. |
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