It has many names.
The Bhut Jolokia. The Naga Jolokia. The Red Naga Chilli. The Ghost Pepper.
Call it whatever you like, but the fact is that the ghost pepper is one of the spiciest things on the entire planet.
And I had one in my house.
Inspired by the Chillibrani Brno Chilli Festival, I wanted to walk right up to the flames and give them a big old hug. I wanted to know what it was like to eat one of the hottest chillies in the world.
As luck would have it, I didn't have to wait to long to find out. The week after the festival, while perusing the stalls of the remarkable farmer's market at Moravske Namesti in Brno, I happened to see a man standing alone, with just a simple wooden crate. On the wooden crate were chilli peppers. jalapeños, cayenne peppers, tabasco peppers, habaneros, and the bad boy himself, the Bhut Jolokia Chilli Pepper.
Two minutes and 30 crowns later, it was mine. Wrapped in a plastic bag, I took it home, plopped it down on the counter and looked at it. What the hell do I do with it?
For the uninitiated/sane, a few notes on the Bhut Jolokia/Ghost Pepper. Until a few years ago, it was the spiciest chilli in the entire world. The most intense ones surpass 1 million Scoville Units (SHU), which is the scale for determining how spicy something is. For comparison, Tabasco sauce is around 5,000 SHU. Cayenne peppers can reach 50,000 SHU. Habaneros, considered to be the gold standard of extreme heat, can rate as high as 500,000.
The ghost pepper is twice as spicy as a habanero.
So, it's not exactly like you can just slice it up and put it on a sandwich or anything. The ghost pepper demands something more complex: it demands a salsa.
After putting on some gloves to protect myself from the power of the bhut jolokia, I set about making my ghost pepper salsa.
(Click here to go to the full Adam's Ghost Pepper Salsa Recipe - Coming Soon!)
Once the salsa was finished, I put it in the fridge to chill while I made fajitas for dinner. But I didn't use all of the Ghost pepper when I was making the salsa, oh no. I saved two small slivers of the pepper, about the size of a fingernail clipping, which is also something that you probably shouldn't put in your mouth.
When dinner was ready, it was time for my girlfriend (who loves spice just as much, if not more, than I do) and me to taste the salsa. It had a delicious smoky-melon flavor to accompany the high heat factor. And while it was certainly one of the spiciest salsas I have ever had, it wasn't over-the-top like I feared it might have been.
Once large amounts of fajitas, ghost pepper salsa, and beer had been consumed there was still one little issue which was hanging over our dinner. Those two slivers of bhut jolokia, sitting on a plate, taunting us.
What would it be like to taste it on its own without being diluted into a salsa? Did I have the courage to take the plunge and embrace the inferno?
Of course I did. I'm a boy, we love doing stupid shit. And my girlfriend was coming along for the ride.
With a couple glasses of yogurt drink on hand in case the pain became unbearable, we stabbed our slivers of chilli with toothpicks and raised them to our mouths. And then we jumped in the fire.
Here's how I can describe it, second by second:
Seconds 1-10: That's a nice flavor. Yeah, it really does taste like smoked melon. There's some heat, but not so bad. Well, I'll swallow it and see how this plays out.
Second 11: Oh, my throat is burning. Oh crap, it's like flames coming from the back of my throat to my mouth. Is this what it feels like to be a dragon? Can I breathe fire? This is becoming unpleasant.
Second 12: Ahhggh, it's hit the rest of my mouth! It's like my throat has erupted and lava is currently filling my mouth! How is this possible?
Seconds 13-15: IT BURNS! IT BURNS! IT BURNS!
Second 16: I am a dragon for my mouth is full of fire!!!!
Seconds 17-20: How can I stop this? Maybe panting real hard and waving my hands in front of my mouth will work! No, of course that didn't work! Run around...yes, that will help! Nope, now my mouth is on fire and I look like an idiot. Is my girlfriend crying or is that just sweat? No, it's just sweat. Wait, am I crying? Somebody please help me!
Second 21: OK, I've had enough of this. Time to throw back a big swig of yogurt drink.
Second 22: Holy shit! That feels amazing! The fire has died down to a slow smoldering sensation in my mouth. I'm so happy that's over.
Seconds 22-25: Bliss.
Second 26: Aaaaarrrrrgggghhhhh!!! It's back! It's like everyone thought the volcano was dormant and started building a village there, but there were wrong! It's erupting again! My tender taste buds are the villagers getting roasted in their beds by the rivers of lava! The horror!
Second 27: More yogurt drink.
Second 28: Bliss.
Second 29: Refer to Second 26. Again. Dammit.
Second 30: I realize that pain is an inevitable part of life and I must just deal with it in order for it to pass. I shall suffer the consequences of my actions, and in doing so I will become a better person.
For the next few minutes it slowly started to fade away, with only a dull burn lingering 10 minutes later.
It was the hottest thing I had ever eaten (and a truly uncomfortable trip to the bathroom the following morning) and while I will gladly cook with Ghost Peppers again, I will avoid the temptation to actually eat a really pepper itself.
But not until I try a Trinidad Moruga Scorpion (2 million SHU), of course.
The Bhut Jolokia. The Naga Jolokia. The Red Naga Chilli. The Ghost Pepper.
Call it whatever you like, but the fact is that the ghost pepper is one of the spiciest things on the entire planet.
And I had one in my house.
Inspired by the Chillibrani Brno Chilli Festival, I wanted to walk right up to the flames and give them a big old hug. I wanted to know what it was like to eat one of the hottest chillies in the world.
As luck would have it, I didn't have to wait to long to find out. The week after the festival, while perusing the stalls of the remarkable farmer's market at Moravske Namesti in Brno, I happened to see a man standing alone, with just a simple wooden crate. On the wooden crate were chilli peppers. jalapeños, cayenne peppers, tabasco peppers, habaneros, and the bad boy himself, the Bhut Jolokia Chilli Pepper.
Two minutes and 30 crowns later, it was mine. Wrapped in a plastic bag, I took it home, plopped it down on the counter and looked at it. What the hell do I do with it?
For the uninitiated/sane, a few notes on the Bhut Jolokia/Ghost Pepper. Until a few years ago, it was the spiciest chilli in the entire world. The most intense ones surpass 1 million Scoville Units (SHU), which is the scale for determining how spicy something is. For comparison, Tabasco sauce is around 5,000 SHU. Cayenne peppers can reach 50,000 SHU. Habaneros, considered to be the gold standard of extreme heat, can rate as high as 500,000.
The ghost pepper is twice as spicy as a habanero.
So, it's not exactly like you can just slice it up and put it on a sandwich or anything. The ghost pepper demands something more complex: it demands a salsa.
After putting on some gloves to protect myself from the power of the bhut jolokia, I set about making my ghost pepper salsa.
(Click here to go to the full Adam's Ghost Pepper Salsa Recipe - Coming Soon!)
Once the salsa was finished, I put it in the fridge to chill while I made fajitas for dinner. But I didn't use all of the Ghost pepper when I was making the salsa, oh no. I saved two small slivers of the pepper, about the size of a fingernail clipping, which is also something that you probably shouldn't put in your mouth.
When dinner was ready, it was time for my girlfriend (who loves spice just as much, if not more, than I do) and me to taste the salsa. It had a delicious smoky-melon flavor to accompany the high heat factor. And while it was certainly one of the spiciest salsas I have ever had, it wasn't over-the-top like I feared it might have been.
Once large amounts of fajitas, ghost pepper salsa, and beer had been consumed there was still one little issue which was hanging over our dinner. Those two slivers of bhut jolokia, sitting on a plate, taunting us.
What would it be like to taste it on its own without being diluted into a salsa? Did I have the courage to take the plunge and embrace the inferno?
Of course I did. I'm a boy, we love doing stupid shit. And my girlfriend was coming along for the ride.
With a couple glasses of yogurt drink on hand in case the pain became unbearable, we stabbed our slivers of chilli with toothpicks and raised them to our mouths. And then we jumped in the fire.
Here's how I can describe it, second by second:
Seconds 1-10: That's a nice flavor. Yeah, it really does taste like smoked melon. There's some heat, but not so bad. Well, I'll swallow it and see how this plays out.
Second 11: Oh, my throat is burning. Oh crap, it's like flames coming from the back of my throat to my mouth. Is this what it feels like to be a dragon? Can I breathe fire? This is becoming unpleasant.
Second 12: Ahhggh, it's hit the rest of my mouth! It's like my throat has erupted and lava is currently filling my mouth! How is this possible?
Seconds 13-15: IT BURNS! IT BURNS! IT BURNS!
Second 16: I am a dragon for my mouth is full of fire!!!!
Seconds 17-20: How can I stop this? Maybe panting real hard and waving my hands in front of my mouth will work! No, of course that didn't work! Run around...yes, that will help! Nope, now my mouth is on fire and I look like an idiot. Is my girlfriend crying or is that just sweat? No, it's just sweat. Wait, am I crying? Somebody please help me!
Second 21: OK, I've had enough of this. Time to throw back a big swig of yogurt drink.
Second 22: Holy shit! That feels amazing! The fire has died down to a slow smoldering sensation in my mouth. I'm so happy that's over.
Seconds 22-25: Bliss.
Second 26: Aaaaarrrrrgggghhhhh!!! It's back! It's like everyone thought the volcano was dormant and started building a village there, but there were wrong! It's erupting again! My tender taste buds are the villagers getting roasted in their beds by the rivers of lava! The horror!
Second 27: More yogurt drink.
Second 28: Bliss.
Second 29: Refer to Second 26. Again. Dammit.
Second 30: I realize that pain is an inevitable part of life and I must just deal with it in order for it to pass. I shall suffer the consequences of my actions, and in doing so I will become a better person.
For the next few minutes it slowly started to fade away, with only a dull burn lingering 10 minutes later.
It was the hottest thing I had ever eaten (and a truly uncomfortable trip to the bathroom the following morning) and while I will gladly cook with Ghost Peppers again, I will avoid the temptation to actually eat a really pepper itself.
But not until I try a Trinidad Moruga Scorpion (2 million SHU), of course.