Stupid chilli tricks
Yesterday, Ben and Deb came over so I made my awesome chili con carne. We had been to the shops beforehand and found some gorgeous fresh jalapinos, so I decided to roast them under the grill before peeling them and mashing them up into the sauce.
Now, normally jalapinos that we buy around here aren’t particularly hot… and I had taken all of the seeds out before putting them under the grill. But these turned out to be scorchers – so my chili sauce was very tasty. We sat down with some nice hot chili, surf chips, and a nice cold Hoegaarden. Half way through dinner my fingers started to burn – because of course I hadn’t worn gloves while peeling.
Some ice fixed the problem… until after dinner, when I had a glass of Tia Maria. Hmmm… a pattern is forming. More ice. Rather than deadening the pain, the alcohol was thinning my blood and making it hurt more, or something. I don’t know exactly, but I couldn’t type until this morning…
Lesson: wear gloves when working with chilis, even if you don’t think they are hot. Sheesh.
And always cut chillies using gloves if you’re wearing contacts and plan to take them out that evening.
As Deb found out today apparently “fat” would neutralise the effect of the “burn”. Also the enzymes in Milk seem to have a soothing effect on the “sensation” that the chili capscine triggers in the brain.
Not sure which is more appealing .. fingers in a block of butter, or fingers in a glass of milk.