My brother got some peppers yesterday.

[Lasher]

We were out on his patio. He showed me a basket of small peppers (sweet, he said) that were given to him by a friend who has a garden. But my brother wanted some hot ones. I have some Hungarian Wax (hot) peppers, so we decided to trade.

There in this basket were some cute little round peppers, a little smaller than a golf ball. I thought, "These would be nice to just throw on the grill." I decided to try a tiny bite of one and [font size=4]Sweet mother of Jesus Christ on a trailer hitch!!!!!! WTF just happened to me???[/font]

My mouth was like a volcano filled with hot lava, except mercifully I couldn't feel my tongue. When I tried to breathe it was like I was inhaling mustard gas. I ejected the contents of my mouth as forcefully as I could. This created a toxic mist, which blew back into my eyes. I couldn't see.

It helped some when I submerged my head in the kids' wading pool. After mopping my face with a wet towel my eyesight eventually returned. I drank all the milk my brother had in the house and ultimately I recovered.

I decided I didn't want any more of those peppers. Holy shit, WTF was it that I just tasted? Any ideas?

[Petrushka]

1. Habaneros? --->

http://www.squidoo.com/habaneroheat

[Lasher]

2. Yep, I think that's it.

They looked like this except I believe all of them were green:



Why on earth would anyone knowingly put one of those things in their mouth? Maybe it would be OK if they were watered down a lot. I preserve Hungarian wax peppers in mason jars and sometimes they're not hot enough to suit me. I could include one of these habaneros to turn the fire up.

[TheCruces]

3. Well, you're not supposed to have a whole one...

I'll use *ONE* in a whole thing of hot homemade salsa...like quart size jar.

[Mopar151]

5. Used that way, they can be easier to tolerate than jalapenos n/t

[hobbit709]

4. I love habaneros. Use them all the time.

you want hot, try one of these.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naga_Bhut_Jolokia

[Lasher]

8. No thank you.

I've had enough hot peppers for awhile.

[Snarkoleptic]

18. I luv these peppers.

If you can find these, I recommend...
Mrs. Renfro's Ghost Pepper salsa
Daves Gourmet Ghost Pepper sauce (makers of Dave's Insanity Sauce)

http://www.renfrofoods.com/press-GhostPepper.aspx

[sadbear]

9. Scotch bonnets, possibly?

[harmonicon]

15. I took a bite out of one once on a dare.

It was in a friend's garden, straight from the vine (do peppers grow on vines? straight from whatever peppers grow on), and, damn, it was hot - and I like hot peppers.

[HopeHoops]

6. Habanero. We're growing the Paper Lantern variety of them this year. I love them.

I don't even consider Hungarian Wax to be hot, but then again I use Tabasco sauce like ketchup.

[LaurenG]

7. I had to rec this because

you made me laugh out loud, hard. Thanks for the great story and I am sorry you got burned.

[LWolf]

10. Habaneros.

Back in the 90s, our secretary grew them. She brought a big, colorful bunch in to give away. She warned our boss, tongue in cheek, that they weren't for the "faint hearted," and that her husband was the only man she knew tough enough to eat them fresh. She was a master manipulator.

Our boss decided that he had to prove his manhood by eating one. He was a blonde, very fair-skinned man. The secretary told him, with a straight face, that the only way to eat them fresh was to put the whole pepper in your mouth and crunch down on the whole thing.

We had to run to the cafeteria to get milk and ice. He turned purple, his lips blistered, and he didn't stop sweating for a couple of hours. The purple eventually faded to red, but it was 2 DAYS before he got his normal color back.

[hkis5269se]

11. mmm nice..

[Bertha Venation]

12. I'm sorry for your pain, but damn, did you make me laugh!

[ElboRuum]

13. Did it look like this?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinidad_Moruga_Scorpion

[Lasher]

14. I guess, but I could easily mistake that one for a habanero.

The one I poisoned myself with was light green. I understand that meant it wasn't fully ripe yet. It boggles the mind to think that pepper might have gotten even hotter with age. I appreciate the help but let me assure you, but I will never knowingly take another bite of anything that even mildly resembles one of these peppers from hell.

This evening I grilled a couple of sweet bell peppers but had no desire whatever for even the mild Hungarian wax hot peppers that I have. I worry about the damage that habanero (or whatever) might do on the way out. I did a pretty good job of ejecting the toxin from my mouth, so maybe I won't have burning issues.

[yawnmaster]

16. always eat ice cream right after a habanero...

That way, hours later, when the inevitable happens, you can sit there and urge "come on ice cream".

[AnneD]

17. A little trick I learned from eating Indian food...

Keep some yogurt handy. Just a spoonful will help quell the heat.

[yawnmaster]

19. I'm talking about the second burst of heat you get,

and from the non-eating end.
It might be possible; does the yogurt help later at that end too?

[AnneD]

20. I'm embarrassed to admit this....

One time I was putting up some habeneros up. I was wearing gloves. After finishing, I took off the gloves, throughly washed my hands, and then went to the restroom. I discovered after wiping that some oil or whatever hand transferred to my more sensitive areas. I thought I would die, or wish I could. I remembered the yogurt and ran to the fridge and thank God I had some. What a blessed relief. Of course I smelled of blueberries, but I could care less.

So my guess is that a topical application might help. I don't know if an internal application may work on the nerve/pain receptors in the same way. Just an 'educated' guess.

[nolabear]

21. You guys have me falling down laughing here!

My friend from Canada calls that second day "The Dance of the Flaming Arseholes." There are hot sauce makers in New Orleans that make book on who can cause the most pain the longest.

My granddaddy used to grow these teensy little red things in coffee cans in the yard. He'd put them in his cafe, in those little pitchers of vinegar common on Southern cafe tables, and just smile. The shipyard regulars couldn't wait until some newbie doused his food in it and wept like a baby. Good times!

[AnneD]

22. Bird eye peppers.....

Yeah, east Texas, the piney woods. My grandfather and step dad doused everything in that vinegar concoction. The peppers looked like the ornamental type but they packed a real whallop.

[GoCubsGo]

24. My kind of hot sauce!

It hurts as much coming out as it does going in!

Reminds me of this:

[rurallib]

23. Hontakas maybe?

I grew some one year and was never so sorry in my life.

[Lasher]

25. Maybe, but I'll just call them habaneros and let it go at that.

Note to self: Never ever again take a bite of a little round hot pepper that even remotely resembles a habanero.

[Xipe Totec]

31. Try a chiltepin. They don't look anything like habaneros

More like harmless little currants.

[Lasher]

34. Get thee behind me, Satan's peppers!

I think I'm getting paranoid.

[Xipe Totec]

37. You should be - Don't confuse this pepper with the woody nightshade

They look remarkably similar, but the woody nightshade (solanaceae solanum dulcamara) grows in cold northern climates and is very bitter, and the chiltepin (solanaceae capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum) grows in hot climates and is not bitter, just pungent...



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanum_dulcamara

[Xipe Totec]

26. Here is a list. And oh, stay away from the scorpions

I've had habaneros and scotch bonnets. But these... Made me nauseous with pain.


http://seedrack.com/08.html?gclid=CMjzzdWO_7ECFYTd4AodwHMAlg

[Xipe Totec]

27. Picture...

[Lasher]

29. A few years back a friend of mine raised some peter peppers.

Never did figure where they got the name.

[Xipe Totec]

30. I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about...

[beac]

28. FYI, grilling can really bring out the heat, even in a "milder" pepper.

I recently watched someone turn into a drooling mess at the table when he decided to eat the grilled jalapeno garnish on his dinner plate.

Also, the droughts this year seem to be causing peppers to be hotter over all. The waiter told us they have had to cut back the amount of peppers in many of their salsas b/c they were just too damn hot for most people to eat.

Forgetting about that incident just a few weeks ago, I ask for jalapenos to be added to my quesadilla at another restaurant last night. The heat was bearable and even delicious, but MUCH more than I'd ever experienced from a simple jalapeno before.

As for a "cure" for your burning mouth... bread or crackers. Absorbs the hot oils off the tongue. Tortilla chips will do in a pinch (take my word for it!)

[Lasher]

32. Milk worked pretty good to eradicate the toxins.

But I would have raked my tongue on a wet towel if I couldn't have found anything else to put out the fire. The thought did occur to me at the time, as an remedy enhancement between glasses of milk. But my brother's wife kept the milk coming, so I can't say if towel licking would have helped.

I believe Hungarian wax and infernos will calm down just a tad when I grill them. These are hot banana peppers - not in the category as these little peppers from hell.

I agree with you about dry weather. Hot peppers get hotter when there's not been much rain.

We've had plenty of rain this year here in West Virginia. Hope the weather soon improves for you folks out west.

[beac]

35. Just to be clear...

when I said grilling can "bring out the heat", I meant it can INCREASE the mouth-on-fire agony, so do be careful grilling even mild peppers this year. Just a TINY bite until you know what you're dealing with.

[deucemagnet]

33. Sounds like it could be a Guatemalan Insanity Pepper.

At any point did you see a coyote who sounds like Johnny Cash?

[Lasher]

36. No, I couldn't hear much except the ringing in my ears.

I heard even less while my head was in the kiddie pool, but that really helped. Did you know that you can hear yourself when you scream underwater?