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The warning signs were there. The raised eyebrow which said, "You sure about this?" The people before me, who were ordering the "mild" version. The knowing smirk from the other side of the counter when I asked for "hot". The ominous bronzed colour of the chicken when it was handed to me.
What could possibly go wrong? A lifetime enjoying spicy food and including chilli in most meals has surely prepared me for this, I foolishly thought as the order was placed.
Fifteen minutes later, my head exploded in what felt like a thermonuclear chain reaction.
A film of sweat on the forehead. Tears. Racing heart. Dizziness. The sensation of burning from the inside out. Difficulty forming words. And that awful feeling of defeat.
I'd been bested by chilli.
Hot chicken is a Nashville specialty. Legend has it that back in the 1930s, the girlfriend of Thornton Prince III served him a breakfast of fried chicken into which she placed a truckload of the hottest chilli she could find. It was an act of revenge for Thornton's womanising. But it backfired.
Thornton loved the dish so much he developed his own recipe and incorporated it into the menu of his chicken restaurant. Prince's Hot Chicken was born and a week later I've recovered from my brush with it. Just.
News a new chilli called Pepper X, the hottest ever, has been bred is keeping the trauma alive. It's way more potent than the previous record holder, the Carolina Reaper, so hot its effects - including stomach cramps - linger for hours.
"Those cramps are horrible. I was laid out flat on a marble wall for approximately an hour in the rain, groaning in pain," reported Ed Currie, the man who brought us Pepper X.
On the Scoville Scale, which measures the heat of chilli, Pepper X returns 2.69 million units. The humble jalapeno measures just 5000 heat units, while the toppled record holder, the reaper, comes in at 1.64 million units. Pepper spray, used by police for riot control, returns a measly 1.6 million units.
My question is, Why? What earthly purpose can be served by developing a chilli so hot eating it is going to make you feel awful? A chilli more brutal than bear spray. Isn't this quest for heat just weaponising the poor old capsicum?
The death in September of an American teenager who ate a chip dusted with Carolina Reaper and Naga Viper chilli - marketed as the "One Chip Challenge" and a hit among teens on social media - surely tells us we've reached peak heat.
Fans of chilli like myself know it gives a natural high. Its active component capsaicin, responsible for heat or that familiar burning sensation, triggers the release of feel-good endorphins. Pleasure from pain if you like.
But there's a line that ought not be crossed. Nashville's hot chicken was that line for me. Which is a surprise for someone who orders vindaloo at the Indian restaurant, happily slathers harissa on pita bread and asks for "spicy" versions of whatever dish I'm ordering in Thailand.
As Chrissie Amphlett sang all those years ago, it's a fine line between pleasure and pain.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Have you ever encountered a chilli too hot to eat? Or do you avoid them altogether? Have Australian tastes changed over the years to reflect of growing multiculturalism? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie has unleashed on the Albanese government over an absence of detail about passengers travelling with politicians on special-purpose RAAF flights, accusing Labor of "trying to hide everything under a rock".
- The head of Britain's Royal Navy has joined Australia in questioning US bureaucratic hurdles facing the three-country AUKUS project to supply Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. Admiral Sir Ben Key said US regulations should not be used to maintain a competitive edge when Western powers find themselves in "as contested an environment as we have been in for many decades."
- The brother of former NSW deputy premier and police minister Paul Toole has pleaded guilty to supplying nearly two kilograms of methamphetamine as part of a major ice supply network operating across the NSW Hunter and Central Coast.
THEY SAID IT: "I was feeling the heat for three-and-a-half hours. Then the cramps came." Ed Currie
YOU SAID IT: Sure it's commercialised and, yes, trick-or-treating is peculiarly American but Halloween also brings people together.
"I love Halloween," writes Heather. "It's great to see kids and families roaming the streets and meeting their neighbours. People are very witty with their Halloween decorations too. A huge spider with legs like finger bones and a skull face that's perched on a trampoline down the street is my favourite this year. There's a spirit of relaxed goodwill about Halloween that ironically Christmas seems to have lost."
Lorraine writes: "It's a yes from me. Last Halloween my daughter and I took her three boys and our two dogs trick or treating. They loved dressing up for the occasion. Our close local streets were abuzz with families chatting happily. It was so lovely to see so many kids outside and enjoying themselves. I'm looking forward to this year's Halloween."
It's a boo-humbug from Kay: "I am, in general, anti-Halloween. Filling kids with more junk food for no good reason doesn't make sense to me. No one around our place participated at all, but some others (and not particularly nice kids anyway), let it be known that they would do the rounds. I prepared in advance a bundle of 'lollies' which were actually lumps of play dough wrapped in cellophane paper. They were dropped into the kids' bags, and happily received. The next day, when the complaints came, I pointed out that the kids had said 'trick or treat', and I had played the trick. They didn't come back."
Anita writes: "My course to Halloween acceptance followed the same trajectory as your own. Initially, I found the prospect of children knocking at the door and begging for treats as an unwelcome import. With children of my own, I saw the fun to be had and thought this mitigated its US origins. Sadly, children seldom come to my door these days though I have an adequate supply of treats 'just in case'. It seems that parents have become selective and their children restrict their 'begging' to the houses where the inhabitants are known suppliers, advertising this fact by decorating their entry with some store-bought accoutrements relating to the day. Admittedly, the path to my door may be strewn with cobwebs of natural origin hinting at spiders of the 'bitey' kind. Enough to put anyone off Halloween collection!"
Cathy is a convert: "About five years ago we moved to a new neighbourhood and are much older than our neighbours, so not a lot of common ground to form new relationships. When the notice came in the letterbox advising we could put the provided pumpkin sign on the letterbox if we were happy to be called on by trick or treaters, we decided to participate. Son and husband have bonded over creation of a new costume each year, girlfriend is invited over to help distribute to the two waves of callers. Little kids come from 5pm and we love seeing them. Older kids come much later and if they are lucky, we will have some lollies left for them. We enjoy stocking up on sweeties (making party-like bags, having to double our output), and love having a connection with our neighbours. With most of them busy with work and family commitments, it's really the only time of year we get to say hi and indicate that we are a friendly household. We have no regrets about switching camps."