Every couple of years we decide to go to the Fiery Food Show, and every couple of years we remember that, oh yeah, it friggin' sucks. The crowd's impenetrable, the sauces on sample are usually not up to par, and someone usually comes out cranky.

This was one of those years we forgot. Or maybe we remembered, but we were being lured to the Sandia Pueblo by the siren song of the Bhut Jolokia, the hottest chile in the world.



I like me a chile that comes with a warning label.

The Bhut Jolokia is rated at over 1,000,000 scovilles of heat. A New Mexico green chile is rated at 1,000 scovilles. A jalepeno is rated 2,500 to 10,o00. Pepper spray is 2,000,000.

This thing is one-half strength mace.

Mmm. Incapacitating.

In addition to the dried pods (no, we haven't fucked with them . . . yet), Adam bought a package of seeds and a seedling. He has already formulated great plans of hand-raising his new chile plant pet and using it for world domination.

I have no doubt.

If you want to put a little time and tenderness into torturing your own taste buds, New Mexico State University is selling seeds through its Chile Pepper Institute. www.chilepeperinstitute.org.

Labels: chile, meta, new mexico