HEAT UP TO COOL DOWN
Eating spicy foods raises your internal body temperature to match the temperature outside. Your face starts sweating. Scientists call it "gustatory facial sweating," caused by increased blood circulation. As the sweat evaporates, you cool off.
Chilis are high in antioxidants. And, interestingly, the chemical compounds found in spicy plants work to protect them from harmful microbes, which might also protect you at a picnic if your food has been sitting in the warm summer breeze for a little too long. Perhaps we enjoy their taste because chilis give us a biological advantage.
Chili peppers are also considered to be psychotropics, acting as potent natural painkillers, and even offering a bit of a high, thanks to the chemical capsaicin, which causes the brain to release endorphins, just as morphine does. Psychologist Paul Rozin suggests that eating chilis is an example of a "constrained risk," like riding a rollercoaster. A little bit of pain, fear, mixed in with a lot of flavor and rush.
My first experience with true chili-induced mind-melt, was my first taste of “Ric’s Original Purple Haze Shrimp,” a signature dish at New World Home Cooking, a funky restaurant in Saugerties, New York, run by the super-talented, slightly sadistic chef, Ric Orlando. The menu warns that the dish is “PSYCHEDELIC!” It is made with lots of habaneros and ginger. NWHC has an impeccably jerked local chicken, laden with scotch bonnets, thyme, and allspice, as well. NWHC has a “Ric-ter” scale that lets you know how much each dish will kick you. Under *4 is mild, *5-8 is balanced but spicy, and over *8 is “for aficionados only.” The Purple Haze rings it at *9. I kind of missed that detail when I ordered.
The scientific way of measuring chili heat is via the Scoville scale, which measures the heat related to the amount of capsaicin present.
“The Hot Sauce Cookbook: Turn Up the Heat with 60+ Pepper Sauce Recipes
Robb Walsh (Ten Speed Press, 2013) is loaded with dozens of recipes from around the world for homemade pepper sauces, salsas, and over fifty recipes for chile-enhanced dishes—including David Chang’s Red Eye Mayo, Steven Pyle’s Habanero Cranberry Sauce, and Fire and Ice Cream.
FIRE AND ICE CREAM
1 (16-ounce) can cream of coconut (not coconut milk)
1 ¼ cups half-and-half
½ cup heavy cream
2 Tablespoons Tabasco Green Pepper Sauce
½ cup sweetened shredded coconut
Grated zest from 2 limes, plus more for garnish
4 to 6 graham crackers, each separated into sections, for serving (we prefer sans graham crackers)
Whisk together the cream of coconut, half-and-half, heavy cream, Tabasco, shredded coconut, and lime zest. Chill thoroughly. Process in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. Transfer to a freezer container and freeze for 1 to 4 hours.
Serve, sprinkled with extra grated lime zest and a few sections of graham crackers (if you must). Yield: 4 cups, or 8 (½ cup) servings
(Recipe from Mary Frances Fatsis, grand-prize winner of the Hot Sauce Cookbook Recipe Contest, reprinted in "The Hot Sauce Cookbook" by Robb Walsh; Ten Speed Press, 2013.)
We love this version of fire and ice from the Procrastinating Gourmand. Mangos and chili are a classic pairing in chutneys, but this sorbet makes them dance a different way.
FIRE AND ICE - MANGO CHILLI SORBET
Mise en place:
3 Large ripe, fragrant mangoes (peeled, pitted and chopped)
1 medium sized red chilli (de-seeded and finely chopped)
85g light brown soft sugar
100 ml freshly squeezed lime juice
50 ml honey
1 Tablespoon (15 ml) finely grated ginger root (skin removed)
1 Kaffir lime leaf (stem removed)
Method:
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Combine the mangoes, chilli, grated ginger, lime juice, Kaffir lime leaf, and honey into a blender and purée until absolutely smooth. Once this is complete, add in the sugar and blend again until it is fully incorporated.
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Transfer the purée into an ice cream maker and churn. Refer to the to the manufacturers instructions to get the right consistency.
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Then, store in the freezer.
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When you are ready to indulge, take the sorbet out of the freezer and allow it to rest between 5 -10 minutes before serving. This will make it easier to scoop.
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This beauty is best served on her own.
Photo: Antonis Achilleos, Spicy Sangria Scorcher
Chile aficionado, Kara Newman, writes about chile’s delights in Chile Pepper Magazine and in her cookbook, "Spice & Ice
SPICY SANGRIA SCORCHER
by Kara Newman
Ingredients:
1 red chile pepper, sliced (we love Thai red bird chiles)
2 ½ ounces white wine
1 ounce vodka
1 ounce Triple Sec
½ ounce fresh lime juice
1/3 ounce elderberry cordial, available at specialty grocery stores
½ ounce cranberry juice
1 teaspoon cucumber, peeled and diced
lemon-lime soda (we love Brooklyn Soda Works Lemongrass & Lime soda)
Directions:
In a tall glass, muddle the chile pepper.
Add a scoop of ice, and stir in the remaining ingredients.
Top up the glass with soda.
Serves: 1 kick-ass drink
Variation: For an extra kick, try Brooklyn Soda Works Grapefruit, Jalapeno, and Honey soda.
So if you’ve got to be cruel to be kind, and it hurts so good, and you like to heat up to cool down, enjoy your chilis in some beautiful new ways this summer. And, if you are really hot to trot, you might want to immerse at the Chile Pepper Extravaganza 2013 in New Orleans, sponsored by Chile Pepper Magazine.
Check out Serious Eats, as they shared a round of spicy cocktail recipes, including jalapeno infused tequila drinks.
