Orchid XP v8 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> And to think Shelly asks for them to replace the chillis with jalipenos! 
> Crazy woman!!

  They are jalape?os, and they are one of the mildest chilis.

  "Chili" in itself refers to the entire genus of capsicum plants, and
encompasses an enormous variety of them. Just saying "chili" doesn't
really say how hot it is, but often it's something slightly hotter than
jalape?os (which are chilis too).

  Habaneros are the most popular chili which is really, really spicy.
On the hottest end of the scale (only a few other species surpass it).
Not to be confused with the jalape?os: They are almost as opposite as
it can get. (Only the bell pepper would be more opposite, as it has no
capsaicin at all.)

  Not that jalape?os aren't hot. If you take a bunch raw in your mouth,
it will be rather spicy.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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Warp wrote:

>   They are jalape?os, and they are one of the mildest chilis.
> 
>   "Chili" in itself refers to the entire genus of capsicum plants, and
> encompasses an enormous variety of them. Just saying "chili" doesn't
> really say how hot it is, but often it's something slightly hotter than
> jalape?os (which are chilis too).
> 
>   Habaneros are the most popular chili which is really, really spicy.
> On the hottest end of the scale (only a few other species surpass it).
> Not to be confused with the jalape?os: They are almost as opposite as
> it can get. (Only the bell pepper would be more opposite, as it has no
> capsaicin at all.)
> 
>   Not that jalape?os aren't hot. If you take a bunch raw in your mouth,
> it will be rather spicy.

...I guess this must be how normal people feel when I tell them that 
differential equations are really hard to solve unless you use the 
Laplace transform, which is a generalisation of the Fourier transform, 
and happens to turn differential equations into algebraic ones.

Dude, seriously, how the hell do you know so much stuff about chillis? o_O

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

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Orchid XP v8 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> Dude, seriously, how the hell do you know so much stuff about chillis? o_O

  Ever heard of wikipedia?

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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Orchid XP v8 wrote:
> An entire TWO HOURS later, my lips, mouth, throat and stomach were still 
> numb.

This property actually has medical uses, and capsaicin is occasionally 
used to cause as an anesthetic, where it has the advantage that the 
effects can last for a long period of time.  It's applied to an area 
already treated with a short-term local anesthetic of course (otherwise 
I think the cure would be worse than the disease!)  Aparently it works 
by basically over-exerting and depleting the pain receptors in the area.

Note, of course, that the concentrations used for this would be vastly 
greater than those on your pizza, so you can imagine how the numbness 
could last for quite a while.

As a side note, I've actually eaten (very small) amounts of a hot sauce 
which was essentially a 50% capsaicin solution.  It's unbelievably hot 
stuff, and if you've only had jalapenos and such it's literally 
difficult to imagine how strong it is.  Needless to say I don't try that 
sort of thing often.

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On Tue, 12 May 2009 15:29:44 -0400, Warp wrote:

> Since Andrew hasn't done this in a long while, I'll do it myself:
> 
> 1) How many habanero chilis can an adult man eat without dying?

1 less than the lethal amount.

> 2) What's the difference between New York and York? What's the
> difference between New Jersey and Jersey?

In both cases, one is newer than the other.

> 3) What's wrong with couch potatoes?

They're uncomfortable to sit on.

> 4) Why is it called a "drive-through" even though you are supposed to
> stop?

You're supposed to stop?!

Jim

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On Tue, 12 May 2009 21:24:41 +0100, Orchid XP v8 wrote:

> On the other hand, last weekend I ate a pizza with some chillis on it.
> 
> First my throat was burning. Then my mouth was burning and my nose
> started to run. Then my *lips* started burning and my eyes were
> streaming. And by the time I finished the thing, my *stomach* felt numb!
> O_O
> 
> An entire TWO HOURS later, my lips, mouth, throat and stomach were still
> numb.
> 
> And to think Shelly asks for them to replace the chillis with jalipenos!
> Crazy woman!!

I've got some lovely habanero cheese here. :-)

Spicy food is something you have to build up a resistance to - takes 
time.  Jalapenos aren't that hot, come to think I haven't had them on 
pizza in a while (makes note to self).

Jim

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Anaheim chilles, along with serrano and cayenne are probably my 
favourites to use in cooking (especially with chili).

Jalapeno is what I'll use if there's nothing stronger available.  Good on 
sandwiches from Subway.

Jim

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On Tue, 12 May 2009 16:25:21 -0400, Warp wrote:

>   But I understand that if you get an overdose of capsaicin, you could
>   get
> severe respiratory problems from the shock, among other symptoms. Not
> that the capsaicin itself would cause the respiratory problems, but how
> it affects pain receptors.

Capsaicin is a toxin and not just an anesthetic - too much without a 
tolerance can cause severe problems and can in fact be lethal.

Handling of pure capsaicin requires the use of hazardous materials 
protection gear.

Lethal doses of pure capsaicin that I've read about are about 47 mg per 
kg of the victim.

Jim

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Jim Henderson wrote:
> I've got some lovely habanero cheese here. :-)

That somehow sounds delicious, but I normally don't like the taste of 
habaneros at all (but find jalapenos generally fantastic).  One 
exception was a friend's salsa which was 4/5 onion and 1/5 habanero -- I 
have no idea why it tasted so good (there were probably some 
preparation/ingredients I missed).

No liking habaneros, I do find it useful to keep a bottle of really hot 
sauce around so I can add it to foods in drop-sized amounts and heat 
them up without changing their flavor too much.

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Jim Henderson wrote:
> Lethal doses of pure capsaicin that I've read about are about 47 mg per 
> kg of the victim.

So we're talking like a half-teaspoon of capsaicin here?  That would 
indeed be a scary amount.

Offhand, so you know what causes it to be toxic?  I was only aware of it 
binding to hear/pain receptors and I don't see how this would cause a 
problem except from the body's reaction to it.  Or perhaps it's just the 
case that at some level that reaction generally becomes fatal?

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