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Koreans Eating Spiciest Food Ever
Fermented Cabbage Kimchi
The kimchi that Koreans eat now is much spicier than it was just five years ago, a study has found. A team headed by Dr. Ku Kyung-hyung of the Korea Food Research Institute released a report that shows the level of capsaicin, the component in chile peppers that causes the burning sensation, has more than doubled in Korea's hallmark dish in the past five years. Annual consumption of pepper per person is 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds) in Korea, by far the highest in the world. There has never been a time in the entire history of Korea when food was as hot as it is today, Korean food experts agreed. Hot dishes like fire chicken, chile short ribs, red noodles and spicy steamed seafood have become favorite items in Korean restaurants in the past two or three years and 70 percent of instant noodles varieties are spicy. Some say people crave spiciness during times of crisis or social unrest. Kim Ju-hyeon, the Korea Food and Nutrition Foundation's head researcher shares this belief. "After having come to Korea in the time of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's invasion in the 1590s, peppers firmly established their presence on the tables of ordinary Koreans by the 18th century," Kim said. "There was a surge in spicy food in Korea after the Asian financial crisis. This may be coincidence but it appears that people tend to want spiciness when things aren't going well." Dr. Ku of the Korea Food Research Institute said that the Korean preference for spiciness is changing the taste of our traditional food. "Some people say the chemical compound capsaicin is good for dieting, and there indeed have been papers written on how the chemical protects our gastric membrane, but pepper is not composed of capsaicin alone, Ku added.
10/15/2007 10:18:12 AM - DD
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Drying Chiles in the Microwave: Don't try this at Home
Big Mistake: Drying Chiles in the Microwave
October - this is the time of the year when chile pepper fans around the world preserve their harvest by drying the hot pods. An Austrian pepper pal tried to take a shortcut by putting about two lbs. of fresh chiles into his microwave oven. This experiment left tenants of an apartment house in Vienna coughing and with tears in their eyes. Even firemen could only enter the building with breathing apparatus. After locating the source of the fiery fumes, they ordered the guy to refrain from drying his hot peppers that way in the future.
Follow the link to find out about drying your pepper harvest safely...
Further Information
10/3/2007 7:33:16 AM - HZ
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Jolokia Is a Big Hit
Ever since the Indian chinense variety ‘Bhut Jolokia’ was tested at New Mexico State University at just over one million Scoville Heat Units, it has captivated gardeners and manufacturers all over the world. It was named “Hottest Pepper in the World” by Guinness World Records. Danise Coon of the Chile Pepper Institute reported that the Institute sold more than 5,000 seed packets during the 2007 growing season. Several Jolokia products are now on the market. Harald and Renate Zoschke of pepperworld.com, the leading European online hot shop, have launched Lava Jolokia Hot Sauce and Lava Jolokia Fiery Mustard. Tom and Dawn Beasley of the Montego Bay Trading Company (www.burnmegood.com) have released a 1.5 ounce shaker bottle of ground Jolokia pods and a 5 ounce “Hell’s Inferno” hot sauce. Other products include “Dragon’s Blood” from the U.K. and CaJohn’s Nagasaurus hot sauce. Undoubtedly, many more Jolokia products will soon be on the market.
Further Information
9/24/2007 12:49:16 PM - DD
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Salsa Has Ancient Roots
This chile pepper from the Guila Naquitz cave in Oaxaca Mexico dates to between A.D. 490 and 780.
The remains of seven different varieties of chiles found in a cave in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico have led researcher Linda Perry to theorize that early farmers were eating the early forms of salsa. Perry is a scientist with the Smithsonian Institution who developed the technique of determining the type of plants in ancient bowls by analyzing starch grains found in their residue. Three decades ago, archaeological materials and artifacts were found in Guila Naquitz cave near Mitla by University of Michigan archaeologist Kent Flannery. They were never analyzed until Perry perfected her technique. Then Flannery sent the artifacts to Perry. She theorizes that the chiles were being ground up with other ingredients such as tropical fruits to make a “proto-salsa.” She noted: “Archaeologists have always felt that chile peppers were very important and became important early.” Perry believes that the farmers along a nearby river were using the caves for shelter and eating. “What was interesting to me was that we were able to determine that they were using the peppers both dried and fresh,” Perry said. (Chilies broken while fresh had a recognizable breakage pattern.) “It shows us that ancient Mexican food was very much like today. They would have used fresh peppers in salsas or in immediate preparation, and they would have used the dried peppers to
toss into stews or to grind up into sauces like moles.”
Further Information
7/10/2007 11:53:48 AM - DD
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Talk About a Hot Curry!
A British Airways flight attendant caused a near panic on a flight from Heathrow Airport to Miami when she used the plane’s microwave to heat up a take-out curry meal and the curry exploded, causing the microwave to catch on fire. The flight attendant staff had to use a fire extinguisher to control the flames. A spokesman for the airline said: "A member of the crew incorrectly used one of the on-board microwaves to heat a meal which resulted in a small fire within the oven itself. As a precaution, a specialist extinguisher was used on the microwave, however at no time was there any danger to passengers or the aircraft." If that is true, the question remains: why did the incident result in $40,000 worth of damages to the aircraft? British Airways has now banned cabin crews from using the microwaves to heat up their own food, and sent a memo to staff noting that the airline microwaves are twice as powerful as the home units.
5/30/2007 10:34:06 AM - dd
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More Notes from the 2007 New Mexico Chile Conference
David Lucero of the New Mexico Department of Agriculture discussed the 2006 Green Chile Promotion. The department managed to get 1,850 stores in more than ten states to participate, including not only the states close to New Mexico, but as far away as Nebraska and South Carolina. Large chile roasters rotated among the stores and sales were brisk. More than 200,000 instructional videos with the theme "Get Your Fix" were distributed, and the DVD showed cooking demonstrations using green chile. Lucero said the $150,000 campaign resulted in $23 million in green chile sales on the retail level. Steve Hussman. head of the New Mexico State University Archives and Special Collections, spoke of Dave DeWitt's donation to the library of more than 1,000 culinary books, plus his files collected over the past 25 years. DeWitt is also endowing the library's collection of chile materials. Gary Esslinger of the Elephant Butte Irrigation District described a new experiment pilot project to use surface water for drip irrigation. Chile farmers will have to use portable filtration devices to make this project work.
2/10/2007 5:56:52 AM - DD
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Guinness Names World's Hottest Chile Pepper
At the 2007 New Mexico Chile Conference, chile breeder Dr. Paul Bosland displayed a certificate from Guinness World Records naming 'Bih Jolokia' as the "World's Hottest Spice." The variety, originally from India, was grown out and tested over a five year trial period by Dr. Bosland and other scientists at the Chile Pepper Institute. It was tested via High Performance Liquid Chromatography and measured an astounding 1,001,304 Scoville Heat Units. Seeds are available through the Chile Pepper Institute. Contact assistant director Danise Coon at hotchile@nmsu.edu
Further Information
2/8/2007 10:37:21 AM - DD
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The Quest for the World's Largest Pod
We have teamed up with The Chileman, Mark McMullan, to sponsor The 'Big Jim' Challenge for the 2007 growing season. This is an international competition not only to see who can grow the largest 'NuMex Big Jim', but also to set a world record for the largest chile pod ever grown.
Further Information
11/25/2006 8:39:35 AM - DD
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Men Eat Spicy Food to Impress Their Dates, Study Shows
Jason Combines a Chocolate Habanero with a Cold Beer; Photos by Harald Zoschke
A study in England commissioned by Domino’s Pizza has revealed that men exaggerate the amount of spicy foods they can consume in order to impress their dates and mates. And when alcohol is thrown into the mix, the men exaggerate even more. Writing for ABC News, corresponent Roger Kaplinsky-Dwarika visited curry houses in the Hammersmith area of London and quoted a 22-year-old partyer named Jon, who said it was a “lad thing” to have a few drinks and then “go off for a steaming curry—the hotter the better.” His friend Ken agreed: “A guy has to be seen to show off to his friends, and if he can’t do that with an expensive car or a nice house, then the thing to do, it seems, is to eat the hottest chiles in front of his friends.” The theory of Richard Wiseman, a senior psychologist at the University of Hertsfordshire, is that such behavior has to do without our evolutionary past. “Males who exhibited the the greatest ability to withstand pain stood a better chance of attracting more females,” he said. The lad magazine Maxim’s feature editor, Martin Robinson, agrees. “Consuming the hottest chiles in a genetically competitive sense of the word can be dated back to the primitive ages through evolution and men are, by nature, competitive. The bad news is this behavior shows no sign of abatement.”
10/22/2006 9:48:39 AM - DD
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Fiery Foods Craze Continues to Grow
As if we needed any proof that the Fiery Foods Industry was continuing to grow in the U.S., we have recently received information on several stores opening throughout the country. Buffalo Wild Wings, who was recently recognized as one of the top ten fastest growing restaurant chains in the United States by Technomic, announced that they have added seven franchises in new markets in the last year. New restaurants are located in Portland, OR; Suffolk County, NY; Charleston, SC; Reno, NV; Southern Arizona; Montana and Murrieta, CA. Brennan Proctor, producer of Uncle Brutha Gourmet Foods--a multi-Scovie winning product line, added some heat to the East Coast summer when he celebrated the Grand Opening of his “Hot Sauce Emporium” near Washington D.C.’s historic Eastern Market. Customers were amazed to find over 300 different hot sauces, spices, marinades, dry rubs, barbeque sauces, seasonings, and, of course, lots of Uncle Brutha’s, the featured house hot sauce. Another multi-Scovie winner, Monty Fritts, is set to open his brick and mortar store Fall, 2006 in Ottawa, Kansas. Monty has also changed his product name from MyHotSauces.com to Monty’s Gourmet Foods L.L.C. to better fit with his new storefront. The store will carry all the big names in hot sauces including Dave’s, Blair’s and CaJohns and will even have Gourmet Oxygen, a great side dish to some of the hotter sauces available.
Further Information
10/22/2006 10:18:33 AM - MH
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Big Apple Barbecue Block Party
It's a BBQ Extravaganza
A summer afternoon in the park is a nice way to spend a quite afternoon with family – unless that family is 110,000 of your closest friends and the park is in the biggest city in the U.S. The recent 4th Annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party attracted bigger crowds, smoked more ‘cue, and raised more money than ever. Thanks to an enthusiastic group of sponsors, pitmasters, musicians, seminar speakers and volunteers – and the participation of a record number of attendees – this year’s event raised an unprecedented $60,000 for the Madison Square Park Conservancy. The event featured 10 award-winning pitmasters who wowed the crowd with some of the nation’s best regional barbecue. Each brought his hometown team to smoke the meat onsite on Madison Avenue and serve it up as authentically as they do back home. Plans for the 2007 Big Apple Barbecue Block Party are already underway. For up-to-date information click the link for Further Information.
How much barbecue does it take to feed 110,000 hungry New Yorkers?
3,576 lbs spare ribs; 1,902 lbs rib tips; 2,292 brownies;
4,407 lbs baby back ribs; 4,110 lbs baked beans; 12,953 cups beer;
3,048 lbs beef brisket; 25 organic whole hogs; 7,027 bottles soda;
5,752 lbs pork butt; 64,680 slices bread; 4,915 bottles Fiji water;
2,649 lbs pork shoulder; 41,520 potato rolls; 1,486 glasses wine;
2,100 lbs sausage; 3,813 slices pie and 250 bags charcoal.
Further Information
7/20/2006 5:50:45 PM - GD & MH
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The U. S. Postal Service issues Chile Pepper Stamp
Chile Pepper Stamps, new U.S. Stamp on Top
Germany has one, Italy as well. Now the United States have a chile pepper stamp, too. The U. S. Postal Service 39 cent stamp is one of five stamp designs that depict plants that had been cultivated in the Americas for centuries when Europeans first arrived in the New World. The other stamps show corn, beans, squashes, and sunflowers. All food items that are still staples of the Southwestern cuisine today. The pods of the New Mexican type are shown in both colors they're used in -- red and green.
The German stamp, issued in 2001, celebrates the 500th birthday of Leonhard Fuchs, a scientist who did early research on the capsicum introduced from the New World. The stamp shows one of his original pepper plant drawings. The 2001 Italian stamp honors Diamante, well known as the country's chile pepper capital.
6/6/2006 10:54:16 AM - HZ
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Pepperworld Hot Shop in Germany is Celebrating Its Fifth
January 23, 2006 -- Exactly five years ago, Germany's first hot shop, www.pepperworld.com, opened its virtual doors. "While still running such a shop in the U.S. back in the late '90s, we sensed by the many orders we got from abroad that things had changed in 'the land of bland' " says Harald Zoschke of Suncoast Peppers, owner of pepperworld.com. The company managed to grow the business considerably year after year, and no end is in sight to that. The team of five is selling hundreds of hot & spicy products, including fiery-foods, chile pepper seed and chile-related non-food items. And they're always on the lookout for new and exciting hot stuff. While many of the products they’re offering come from around the globe, the Zoschkes find a good deal of their merchandise at the annual Fiery-Foods and Barbecue Show in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “Where else could we check out that many “hot” new products in one convenient location,” says Harald. He and his wife Renate moved to Florida for several years, created award-winning hot sauces there, ran the hot shop "Peppers on the Pier" in St. Petersburg, FL, and started the "Pepperworld Hot Shop" online - a business they successfully transferred to Germany. Here's to the next fiery five years!
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1/23/2006 8:40:45 AM - DD
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Taiwan Scientists created pigs that glow in the dark
Fluorescent Pig (SuperSite dramatization)
According to BBC News, Hong Kong, researchers in Taiwan claim they have bred fluorescent pigs - glowing green through and through. They accomplished this by adding genes from jellyfish into a normal pig embryo. The purpose of this project, so the scientists say, is helping with the study of human disease. We foresee another big advantage for fluorescent pigs -- it will be easier to locate those pork chops when grilling at night.
Further Information
1/16/2006 3:10:55 AM - HZ
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Spice Museum in Hamburg Welcomed Their One-Millionth Visitor
Visitors No. 1,000,000 and 1,000,001 greeted in Spicy's Gewürzmuseum in Hamburg, Germany
December 9, 2005 was a milestone in the history of "Spicy's Gewürzmuseum, the unique spice museum in the historic port district of Hamburg, Germany. "Spicy's" owner Viola Vierk (left) greeted the one-millionth visitor since the museum opened its doors about twelve years ago. Klara and Gerhard Dörne from the Hessen area haven't been to Hamburg for 25 years - now they're welcomed as visitors no. 1,000,000 and no. 1,000,001 and received a bottle of champagne and a well-filled spice rack.
This is also an indicator for the enormous interest in spicy foods in the former "land of the bland."
Located on the 3rd floor of a historical storage building, the museum is exhibiting more than 900 spice-related items, covering a time span of more than five centuries. From planting to harvest, visitors can follow the way of their favorite spices. Also on display are historical tools and machines.
Special exhibits are a major attraction -- in the 1st quarter of 2006, the "Aphrodisia 2006" exhibit will focus on the aphrodisiac properties of many spices, including chile peppers.
When visiting Hamburg, be sure to stop by this interesting museum.
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12/15/2005 12:28:17 PM - HZ
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Chinese Imports Threaten Mexican Chile Industry
Chile de Arbol
Chinese de Arbol chiles? Chinese anchos? Yes, imported Chinese chiles that mimic the same popular Mexican varieties are hurting Mexican chile farmers because they are cheaper. One Mexican chile vendor in the main market in Mexico City, sells twice the number of imported bags of chiles as he does the domestic ones. Arturo Lomeli, author of "El Chile y Otros Picantes," wrote: "Chile, they say is the sould of the Mexicans--a nutrient, a medicine, a drug, a comfort. For many Mexicans, if it were not for the existence of chile, their national identity would begin to disappear." The disappearance is beginning.
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11/12/2005 8:56:04 AM - DD
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New Guinness Food Record Set
Hungarian Chefs Craft a Giant Letcho
By Lake Balaton in Siofok, Hungary, a new gastronomical Guinness Record was set. As part of the International Hungarian Egg Festival of Balaton, a giant ‘letcho’ (a delicious dish based on Hungarian yellow wax peppers, tomato, and onion) was prepared. It featured smoked pigs' feet, spicy Hungarian sausage and eggs! They used 7500 eggs, 220 pounds of Hungarian wax peppers, some tomatoes and onions, 77 pounds of pigs' feet and sausage, 176 pounds of special organic lard, 110 pounds of paprika paste with a top secret seasoning and 30 pounds of salt. The letcho served 6000 people.
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10/23/2005 10:58:20 AM - DD
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Chile Harvest in Germany
Harald's Harvest
Our web designer, Harald Zoschke, shows off his pepper harvest. His garden is in Kressbronn in southern Germany, on the shores of Lake Constance.
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10/4/2005 5:50:24 PM - DD
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Chile Harvest in Finland
Jukka's Harvest
The number one chilehead in Finland, Jukka Kilpinen, displays his prodigious harvest.
Further Information
10/5/2005 11:26:56 AM - DD
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Noted Hispanic Chile Breeder Honored
Fabian Garcia
The father of the U.S. Mexican food industry has been enshrined in the national Hall of Fame for the American Society for Horticultural Science. Fabian Garcia, a pioneering New Mexico State University chile breeder, was inducted into the hall this summer, some five decades after his death.
“This award is the cherry on top of an illustrious career,” said Paul Bosland, an internationally recognized chile breeder with NMSU’s Agricultural Experiment Station and director of the university’s Chile Pepper Institute. “The inductees in this group are elite professionals who’ve been at the top of their profession.”
Garcia was chosen by a panel of eight industry leaders, educators and scholars from across the nation. The 3,000-member society, founded in 1903, is the nation’s largest scientific organization dedicated to advancing horticultural research and education.
During more than 50 years at NMSU, Garcia carried out a series of revolutionary horticultural experiments. In 1899, he began research to develop more standardized chile varieties. Early in the 1900s, he released New Mexico 9, the first variety with a dependable pod size and heat level.
The new pod variety opened commercial markets for New Mexico chile peppers and established the state’s chile pepper food industry, Bosland said.
“For that work he’s known as the ‘father of the U.S. Mexican food industry,’” Bosland said. “All New Mexican-type chile peppers grown today, including the Anaheim, owe their genetic base to Fabian Garcia’s New Mexico No. 9 variety.”
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10/3/2005 8:21:50 AM - DD
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Russian Roulette with Peppers
Pimientos de Padron
A British company, UKPeppers.com, is growing and selling the famed Spanish pepper, Pimientos de Padron. Here is their description: "They are described as a small, green tube or bell shape pepper that is sweet and tasty said by some to be similar in taste to asparagus. However, the secret of these little green peppers is that they are delightful to taste but then just wait for your taste buds to explode as one in every 20, or so, is hot and spicy – we like to think it’s playing Russian Roulette with food!"
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8/28/2005 3:12:02 PM - DD
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Fiery Foods Raging in Korea
Nakchibokkum pibimbap is a dish of steamed rice mixed with a variety of vegetables and pan-boiled octopus seasoned with red pepper.
The rising popularity of hot dishes in Korea has contributed to increases in the consumption of dried red pepper, a major ingredient in spicy food. The Korea Rural Economic Institute estimated that around 242,000 tons of dried red peppers have been consumed in the first seven months of this year, already surpassing the total local consumption of 231,000 tons for last year. Even global and local fast food and family restaurant chains have started introducing hot and spicy menu items. For instance, McDonalds has been offering Crazy Hot Chicken Folder since July, while Burger King is selling its Garlic Steak House Burger served with chili sauce.
Further Information
8/28/2005 1:14:02 PM - DD
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Hurtin' Garlic?
Newest findings: Our pain-sensing nerves respond to garlic, too.
Most people who love chile peppers are fond of garlic, too. Now Californian scientists suggest that the two popular salsa ingredients have something in common -- our body's pain-sensing nerves respond to garlic, just like to hot peppers. According to David Julius of the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco, the finding was made while researching the mechanisms of pain sensation.
Julius discovered that when a subset of pain neurons in rats activates a cell membrane channel called TRPA1, it triggers a release of brain chemicals that stimulate blood vessel dilation and inflammation. This finding may help researchers to learn more about the development of arthritis and various muscular problems.
The chile pepper heat compound capsaicin is an powerful ingredient in various arthritis creams. Garlic has a long history of use in folk medicine as well, and its mild pungency which can activate certain pain sensors is based on sulfur compounds, particularly allicin.
So in the future, we may see garlic in medical products like arthritis creams as well. Meanwhile, hand me the habanero garlic salsa, please!
Study details can be found in the current Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (subscription only).
Further Information
8/16/2005 3:42:07 AM - HZ
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Two Great New Chile Photo Galleries
Tettinas de Monk
Allen Boatman, who is an instructor of horticulture with Hillsborough County Schools near Tampa, is a chile gardener par excelence, and he has been keeping track of his exotic experiments over the years.
Named varieties (314 images), see Further Information. Unnamed varieties keyed to USDA PI Numbers (484 images):
http://www.linuxis.net/gallery/government-peppers-2004
Further Information
7/27/2005 4:38:19 PM - DD
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New Product: The Chili Man Chili Roaster
This roaster is a stainless steel or carbon steel with black powder coat. It will not only roast green chile but will also cook shish kabobs (shrimp, scallops, steak, chicken, or pork), and is also good for roasting corn. It is a fully portable roaster and runs off of D-batteries for portability, like for camping or picnic use. The cage and engine pop right off the base and the base naps off the stand it then folds and fits in the trunk or truck. For fuel, it will take small propane bottles or the big 5 gallon bottle. The burner is fully adjustable for even cooking. Contact: 701-235-0365 or www.thechiliroaster.com
Further Information
7/26/2005 4:40:34 PM - DD
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