A restaurant in London is out to set the record for the world’s hottest curry.<\/a> The Bollywood Burner contains the hottest chili pepper in the world: the Naga<\/a>. From the story:<\/p>\n\n [It’s] a lamb-based dish with a fierce kick.<\/p>\n\n The curry is so hot that diners are asked to sign a disclaimer confirming they are aware of the risks involved before daring to eat it.<\/p>\n\n The Bollywood Burner is being submitted to Guinness World Records for verification of its status as the planet’s hottest curry.<\/p> <\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n According to the story, the student who tried it first says, “”The initial taste isn’t that hot but now, a couple of minutes later, I feel a bit floaty and light-headed.” A reporter says, “At first, it tasted delicious. Then my mouth caught fire. It even made me feel dizzy.” Another reporter says it sent his heart rate racing from a resting pace to the equivalent of doing aerobic exercise. (Terrifyingly, Wikipedia<\/a> says that one of the few things hotter on the Scoville scale than the Naga is standard U.S. pepper spray.)<\/p>\n\n Spice-induced pain (pleasure?<\/a>) fascinates me, and it appears to draw a crowd. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard of someone having to sign a disclaimer to eat spicy food. A vegetarian friend of mine went to Hell Night at a restaurant in Boston<\/a> awhile back and had to sign one before eating his noodles. <\/p>\n\n Food seems like another way we measure the strongest, the fastest<\/a>, the fittest, the best. And I’ll admit that sometimes, when I tell people Sri Lankan food is spicy, I’m saying it with a bit of a dare behind my words. But why is food a test we have to pass? In recent years, I’ve tried to tone it down, mostly because it seems like my penchant for pepper could be giving me an internal third-degree. Everything in moderation, right?<\/p>\n\n That seemed to work well at a recent Sri Lankan-themed potluck held at the home of DKG, with contributions from four people.<\/p>\n\n Starting at top left and going clockwise, two dishes of R’s upuma; A’s keerai curry (spinach); R’s dal\/ parippu (lentils); A’s channa masala (not Sri Lankan, we know, but it’s so good); my mushroom curry ; my chicken curry; DKG’s shrimp curry, decorated with eggs; A’s saffron rice with raisins, onions and cashews. At center, a summer salad that DKG could not resist making. (What if there wasn’t enough food for four? :)) R, one of those in attendance, made a persuasive argument against excessive spice. Nothing we made really brought the heat Amma-style\u00e2\u20ac\u201dbut it was pleasantly tingly, enough so that at the end of the meal, I was happy to cut the afterburn with A’s caramel pudding (below).<\/p>\n\n What’s the hottest curry you’ve ever made or eaten? Have you ever eaten something competitively hot a la the Bollywood Burner or Hell Night? Do you judge those who can’t take the heat? \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n\n Aside: (For the record<\/a>, it seems that any metabolic kick one gets from spicy food is negligible. Indeed, testing of Indian takeout in Britain<\/a> seems to indicate it is worse for you than other kinds of food.)<\/p>\n\n UPDATE, Sunday, July 13: See related post Gimme Some o’ that Hot Stuff.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As long as I’ve been on here, I’ve blogged about food. And I love hotttttt food. I always thought Amma’s cooking was spicy enough. Apparently not! A restaurant in London is out to set the record for the world’s hottest … Continue reading ![\"Naga_Jolokia_Peppers.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/www.sepiamutiny.com\/sepia\/archives\/Naga_Jolokia_Peppers.jpg\")
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