some like it hot

i love spicy foods. not the flame-thrower kind of stuff that wipes out your tastebuds upon contact so that you can't taste anything afterwards; but i don't mind shedding a tear for something good. growing up i was not exposed to this type of food, but i have developed a taste for it. most of the time its peppers which create the heat in a dish, and their intensity is measured in something called Scoville units. capsaicin is the compound in peppers which give it its heat and it is measured in Scoville units, after Wilbur Scoville who developed the method of measurement in 1912. originally the method involved human tasters, how would you like having that job? nowadays it is done through High Performance Liquid Chromotography which measures the level of capsaicinoids in the pepper. i've had food made with habaneros and scottish bonnets, and i've tried the indian vindaloo sauce (not for the feint hearted). i love poblanos, cayenne, jalpenos, wasabi (not a pepper but made from horseradish). well you get the point. the koreans are widely known for indulging in some of the spicier cuisines out there. one of my sisters-in-law, Myung, is korean. one day when John and i were making dinner at John's dad's house Myung and Tommy (her husband) came over and when Myung tried the roasted head of garlic her face lit up. now that's mild comparatively speaking; but there are some people who don't do garlic, even in its milder roasted form. Myung introduced me to a korean spa in palisade park which is just great. i stand out like a sore thumb when i go; but its easy to overcome the cultural divide, especially when everyone is walking around naked. i would call nudity the great equalizer; but, well, ok, never mind, i just wont go there. anyway, as i say this place in pal park is called King Sauna. i highly recommend it. there are separate spa floors for the men and women, 'cause everyones naked, and then there are communal floors where there are massages, saunas, big couches and loungers for sleeping or watching the tube or reading. there is also another floor with a restaurant and more rooms. my favorite is the body scrub. you lie naked on this wet table and you get scrubbed head to toe from every side, and i mean everywhere. then they wash you and splash buckets of hot water on you, and they wash your hair and stretch you and massage you. its fantastic. check out the link over there under King Sauna and then check out the place.

THE SCOVILLE HEAT CHART FOR PEPPERS (in scoville units)

Habanero/scotch bonnets 200,000-300,000
Red Amazon 75,000
Pequin 75,000
Chiltecepin 70,000-75,000
Tabasco 30,000-50,000
Cayenne 35,000
Arbol 25,000
Japone 25,000
Smoked Jalepeno (Chipotle) 10,000
Serrano 7,000-25,000
Puya 5,000
Guajillo 5,000
Jalepeno 3,500-4,500
Poblano 2,500-3,000
Pasilla 2,500
TAM Mild Jalepeno-1 1,000-1,500
Anaheim 1,000-1,400
New Mexican 1,000
Ancho 1,000
Bell & Pimento 0


0-5,000: Mild
5,000-20,000: Medium
20,000-70,000: Hot
70,000-300,000: Extremely Hot