case closed

Habanero peppers preserved in oil

Loving Husband is a chilli fiend. He delights in spice levels that leave my eyes watering and mouth numb. Finding unusual chilli peppers is like Christmas Day come early for him!

The Scoville Scale and Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) were named for scientist Wilbur Scoville in 1912. (H)e developed a test called the “Scoville Organoleptic Test” which is used to measure a chili pepper’s pungency and heat.

The Scoville Scale can be used to not only measure chili peppers, but anything that is made from chili peppers, such as hot sauce. What is really being measured is the concentration of “capsaicin“, the active ingredient that produces that sensation of heat on our tongues.

Chilli Pepper Madness

In case you think I am a chilli wuss, I do like spice in my food. One of my favourite ways to deliver heat is Tobasco hot sauce, which rates 3,750 SHU(Scoville Heat Units). In comparison, Loving Husband often has Birds Eye Chillis straight up with his food; rating 100,000 – 250,000 SHU. Okay, so maybe next to him, I am a little bit of a softy.

A week or so ago, he found this beautiful tray of habaneros, which are 100,000 – 350,000 SHU.

Just a little spicier than Bird’s Eye Chilli, I thought, I’ll just put some in his breakfast scramble. Instead of gingerly handling them like I would the Bird’s Eye, I was so distracted by the unusual shapes and colours, I cut them up like I would bell peppers (zero SHU).

Big mistake! My hands began to smart almost immediately. By the time breakfast was cooked, they were burning. I washed and washed, and still, no relief. Only when I coated my hands with creme fraiche did the agony subside. And even after that, there was still uncomfortable tingling for hours after.

I dunked the remainder of the pretties into a jar of olive oil and closed the lid on these Habaneros until the memory fades enough for me to handle them again. It’s been a couple of weeks; they are still sitting on the counter top.

How is your chilli tolerance? What do you do with your excess peppers?

This post is my contribution to One Word Sunday: Closed hosted by Debbie at TravelWithIntent.