OK, so today I learned the following:

1. Teasle is in no way related to thistles.

2. Burdoc is a member of the thistle family, and is related to artichoke.

3. Dandelion & Burdoc is actually flavoured with either Sassafras or 
Wintergreen.

4. Sassafras contains a compound known as Safrole.

5. Safrole is what makes castor oil brown. It's a natural pesticide, and 
it's also a human carcinogen. (!)

6. Wintergreen oil contains methyl salicylate. It's a rubefacient. (It 
makes your skin red by flushing it with blood.)

7. Another rubefacient is Capsaicin.

8. Capsaicin is what makes peppers hot. It's - guess what - a mammalian 
herbevore deterrant. (The fruits are for comsumption by birds, on whom 
the chemical is just a mild analgesic.)

9. Capsaicin is the active ingrediant in pepper spray.

10. I probably spend too much time on Wikipedia.

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

Post a reply to this message

I though these kind of posts were reserved for friday as 'friday abstracts'.

On 07-Jul-08 13:02, Invisible wrote:
> OK, so today I learned the following:
> 
> 1. Teasle is in no way related to thistles.
> 
> 2. Burdoc is a member of the thistle family, and is related to artichoke.
> 
> 3. Dandelion & Burdoc is actually flavoured with either Sassafras or 
> Wintergreen.
> 
> 4. Sassafras contains a compound known as Safrole.
> 
> 5. Safrole is what makes castor oil brown. It's a natural pesticide, and 
> it's also a human carcinogen. (!)
> 
> 6. Wintergreen oil contains methyl salicylate. It's a rubefacient. (It 
> makes your skin red by flushing it with blood.)
> 
> 7. Another rubefacient is Capsaicin.
> 
> 8. Capsaicin is what makes peppers hot. It's - guess what - a mammalian 
> herbevore deterrant. (The fruits are for comsumption by birds, on whom 
> the chemical is just a mild analgesic.)
> 
> 9. Capsaicin is the active ingrediant in pepper spray.
> 
> 10. I probably spend too much time on Wikipedia.
>

Post a reply to this message

> 10. I probably spend too much time on Wikipedia.

And apparently not enough on Wiktionary.

Post a reply to this message

somebody wrote:
>> 10. I probably spend too much time on Wikipedia.
> 
> And apparently not enough on Wiktionary.

Sure, like *that* would help. :-P

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

Post a reply to this message

Invisible wrote:

> 9. Capsaicin is the active ingrediant in pepper spray.

Not only that, but there are actually hot sauces you can buy with a more 
concentrated capsaicin content than most pepper sprays!

Post a reply to this message

Kevin Wampler wrote:

> Not only that, but there are actually hot sauces you can buy with a more 
> concentrated capsaicin content than most pepper sprays!

Mmmm.. Painfully spicy...

Post a reply to this message

>> Not only that, but there are actually hot sauces you can buy with a 
>> more concentrated capsaicin content than most pepper sprays!
> 
> Mmmm.. Painfully spicy...

We once bought a jar of sauce labelled "rogan josh". I have no idea what 
this means, but the meal we produced was almost inedible. Both of us had 
tears streaming down our faces as we attempted to eat it.

Last weekend I went to a country pub and had a lamb rogan josh. I've 
tasted gravey spicier than this stuff! Seriously, there was no hint of 
spice anywhere.

Mayne rogan josh just means an entirely random level of spicing?

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

Post a reply to this message

On Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:53:20 +0100, Invisible wrote:

> Mayne rogan josh just means an entirely random level of spicing?

No, it's not about the heat, it's about the contents.  It's a clarified 
butter sauce with "heat" added - how much is up to the individual 
preparing the dish (pretty much like any sort of curry).

Jim

Post a reply to this message