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Mistake number one:
Spooning a generous glop of the mystery sauce onto my noo-
dles without sampling it first. The result? A sensation akin to tongue tasering, triggering tears
and sweat as I grabbed for my water. That was mistake number two — water only fanned the flames.
My knowing friend shoved his Singha toward me, and Thailand’s national beer seemed to calm the fire
ignited by the bird’s eye chile sauce. It was then that I understood why there was a box of tissues at
every table in the Bangkok restaurant.
Chiles originated in Mexico, but we can credit colonial explorers for spreading these spicy
peppers throughout the world. Today, they are as much at home in the temperate-clime cuisines
of Hungary and Italy as in subtropical Jamaica. Chiles play well with a rainbow of ingredients,
enhancing signature tastes while exhibiting their own personality. Whether jerk chicken, Indian
vindaloo, or Tabasco-spiked New Orleans crawfish étouffée, those dishes that register on the
Scoville scale are proof that there is a thin line between pleasure and pain.
IntervalWorld.com INTERVAL WORLD Summer 2015
27
Traveling chile
aficionados
find equal
parts pleasure
and pain in
fiery world
cuisines.
Cayenne
Tabasco
Pequin
Bird’s eye
(sometimes called
Thai chile)
Habanero
Scotch bonnet
Piri piri
Ghost pepper
Naga viper
Trinidad moruga
scorpion
Carolina reaper
30,000 – 70,000
100,000 – 350,000
850,000 – 2,200,000
Cayenne
Big in:
Mexico, U.S.,
Korea, China, Italy, India
Substitute:
Tabasco
Form:
Dried and
powdered, or flaked with
seeds
Signature uses:
Salsas,
Italian
arrabbiata
sauce,
Indian
vindaloo
, liquid
diets, health cleanses
Tabasco
Big in:
Louisiana
Substitute:
Cayenne
Form:
Fresh; liquid in
Tabasco sauce
Signature uses:
Condiment, creole
sauces, barbecue,
bloody mary mix
Bird’s eye
Big in:
Thailand, Vietnam,
India
Substitute:
Scotch
bonnet, habanero
Form:
Fresh, chopped,
cooked, dried
Signature uses:
Thai and
Indian curries and
salads; stir-fries, fish sauce
Habanero
Big in:
Mexico
Substitute:
Scotch bonnet
Form:
Fresh, chopped,
cooked
Signature uses:
Salsas,
sauces, chili, marinades
Scotch bonnet
Big in:
Jamaica,
Caribbean, West Africa
Substitute:
Habanero
Form:
Fresh or dried
Signature uses:
Jerk
chicken, salsas, hot sauces;
pairs well with fruit
Continued on page 29