Tag Archives: tongue

If You Can’t Stand the Heat………..!

Wear gloves to protect your hands when using fresh or dried hot chile peppers. Capsaicin oil, the substance that is the source of “heat” in chiles, can cause severe burns.

If your bare hands and fingers do come in contact with your hot chiles, wash thoroughly with soapy water (a dish washing liquid that cuts oil works well). If burning persists, soak your hands in a bowl of milk. Also, be careful not to touch your eyes or other sensitive areas.

When grinding dried chiles, use a mask as the chile dust in the air can irritate your eyes and throat.

If you eat a chile or food that is too hot, don’t try to extinguish the heat with water! Capsaicin is an oil that will not mix or be diluted with water (or beer!) and will instead distribute the heat to more parts of your tongue and mouth. To cut the heat as quickly as possible, drink some milk (rinsing the mouth while swallowing it), or eat some ice cream or yogurt. Eating starchy foods like rice or bread will also absorb the heat.

Drinking tomato juice or eating a fresh lime or lemon will help as well as the acid will counteract the alkalinity of the capsaicin oil.

Bite Your Tongue When Sharing These Hot Sauce Tips!

Linda in Newsletter, Site News

Serious hot sauce lovers and collectors already use “liquid fire” in all kinds of ways. Outlined below are some suggestions that people may not have thought of or for those more timid, to convert and inspire them to “eat the heat”:

• Try mixing a small amount of hot sauce with softened cream cheese as a spread for bagels or as a dip for vegetables or crackers.

• Mix equal parts of olive oil and your favorite hot sauce and marinate skinless chicken breasts or fish fillets before grilling or broiling.

• Mix equal parts of soy sauce, dry sherry and hot sauce (or to taste), add a small amount of corn starch and mix in at the end of cooking your favorite stir-fry dish. If you’re using meat in your stir-fry, marinate the meat in the sauce mixture beforehand.

• Add a few drops of hot sauce to mayonnaise or salad dressing to add some extra flavor.

• Add a few drops of hot sauce to your favorite salsa, gravy, soup or stew for a little extra “kick”.

• For a different flavor in your next Bloody Mary, Caesar or glass of vegetable juice, try adding a few drops of your favorite hot sauce to “kick” up the taste.

• Use hot sauce on pizza and pasta dishes instead of red pepper flakes.

• Try cooking ham, pork roasts or smoked sausage in any tropical fruit nectar (pineapple, etc.) with a few shakes of hot sauce.

• Try a Caribbean style hot sauce on cottage cheese or your favorite salad as a low calorie, low fat dressing.

• Try mixing your favorite hot sauce with ketchup for a quick and delicious barbecue sauce.

• Tired of airplane food when travelling? Try carrying your own hot sauce to jazz up whatever they serve you.

• Try replacing the salt in your diet with hot sauce. Sprinkle it on burgers, vegetables, eggs, rice, salads, sandwiches or on any food that you’ve grilled. The sauce adds great flavor and is much better for you.

Hot and Spicy Mood Lifter

Linda in Newsletter, Site News

We all know someone who loves their spicy food. Well, as it turns out, there is some science behind the love of hot flavors. Capsaicin, the chemical that produces the heat in chiles and peppers, increases the release of feel-good endorphins when the spice hits the tongue, according to Dr. Paul Rozin, Department of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. Endorphins are known for their ability to reduce stress, relieve depression, and significantly raise the spirits. So, if you need an emotional lift, add some hot sauce or cayenne pepper to your next meal.

Chile Peppers May Tame Pain

Linda in Newsletter, Site News

The Associated Press recently released an article that reports that scientists are testing to see of the stuff that makes hot sauces so savage can tame the pain of surgery.

Doctors are dripping capsaicin, the chemical that gives chile peppers their fire, directly into open wounds during knee replacement and a few other highly painful operations. These experiments use an ultra-purified version of capsaicin to avoid infection – and the patients are under anesthesia so they don’t scream at the initial burn.

You ask how could something searing possibly soothe? Bite a hot pepper and, after the burn, your tongue goes numb. Chile peppers have been part of folk remedy for centuries, and heat-inducing capsaicin creams are a staple for arthritis and aching muscles.

In a pilot U.S. study of 50 knee replacements, the half treated with capsaicin used less morphine in the 48 hours after surgery and reported less pain for two weeks.