I like hot peppers but not sure about this one. 
<br /><br /><br />>> The Times April 01, 2006<br />><br />> The chilli so hot you need gloves<br />> By Simon de Bruxelles<br />><br />> ::nobreak::THE world's hottest chilli pepper does not come from a <br />tropical <br />> hot spot where the locals are impervious to its fiery heat but a <br />> smallholding in deepest Dorset.<br />><br />> Some chillis are fierce enough to make your eyes water. Anyone <br />foolhardy <br />> enough to eat a whole Dorset Naga would almost certainly require <br />hospital <br />> treatment.<br />><br />> The pepper, almost twice as hot as the previous record- holder, was <br />grown <br />> by Joy and Michael Michaud in a poly- tunnel at their market garden. <br />The <br />> couple run a business called Peppers by Post and spent four years <br />> developing the Dorset Naga.<br />><br />> They knew the 2cm-long specimens were hot because they had to wear <br />gloves <br />> and remove the seeds outdoors when preparing them for drying, but had <br />no <br />> idea they had grown a record-breaker.<br />><br />> Some customers complained the peppers were so fiery that even half a <br />small <br />> one would make a curry too hot to eat. Others loved them and the <br />Michauds <br />> sold a quarter of a million Dorset Nagas last year. At the end of <br />last <br />> season Mrs Michaud sent a sample to a laboratory in America out of <br />> curiosity. The owner had never tested anything like it.<br />><br />> According to Mrs Michaud, the hottest habañero peppers popular in <br />> chilli-eating competitions in the US generally measure about 100,000 <br />units <br />> on the standard Scoville scale, named after its inventor, Wilbur <br />Scoville, <br />> who developed it in 1912. At first the scale was a subjective taste <br />test <br />> but it later developed into the measure of capsaicinoids present. The <br />> hottest chilli pepper in The Guinness Book of Records is a Red Savina <br />> habañero with a rating of 570,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU).<br />><br />> Mrs Michaud was stunned when the Dorset Naga gave a reading of nearly <br />> 900,000SHU. A fresh sample was sent to a lab in New York used by the <br />> American Spice Trade Association and recorded a mouth-numbing <br />923,000SHUs.<br />><br />> Mrs Michaud said: "The man in the first lab was so excited - he'd <br />never <br />> had one even half as hot as that. The second lab took a long time <br />because <br />> they were checking it carefully as it was so outrageously high."<br />><br />> The Dorset Naga was grown from a plant that originated in Bangladesh. <br />The <br />> Michauds bought their original plant in an oriental store in <br />Bournemouth. <br />> Mrs Michaud said: "We weren't even selecting the peppers for hotness <br />but <br />> for shape and flavour. There is an element of machismo in peppers <br />that we <br />> aren't really interested in. When the results of the heat tests came <br />back <br />> I was gobsmacked."<br />><br />> The couple are now seeking Plant Variety Protection from the <br />Department <br />> for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which will mean that no one <br />else <br />> can sell the seeds.<br />><br />> Mrs Michaud, 48, has run the company with her husband at West <br />Bexington, <br />> near Dorchester, for ten years. Mr Michaud, 56, has been a regular on <br />the <br />> television chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage series, <br />> advising on vegetable growing.<br />><br />> Anyone wanting to try the Dorset Naga will have to be patient as <br />chillis <br />> are harvested only from July on. In Bangladesh the chillies grow in <br />> temperatures of well over 100F (38C) but in Dorset they thrive in <br />> polytunnels.<br />><br />> Aktar Miha, from the Indus Bangladeshi restaurant in Bournemouth, <br />said <br />> that even in its home country the naga chilli was treated with <br />respect. <br />> "It is used in some cooking, mainly with fish curries, but most <br />people <br />> don't cook with it. They hold it by the stalk and just touch their <br />food <br />> with it," he said.<br />><br />> "It has a refreshing smell and a very good taste but you don't want <br />too <br />> much of it. It is a killer chilli and you have to be careful and wash <br />your <br />> hands and the cutting board. If you don't know what you are doing it <br />could <br />> blow your head off."<br />><br />> FROM HOT TO NOT<br />><br />> Scoville Heat Units<br />><br />> Pure capsaicin: 15m to 16m<br />><br />> US Police-grade pepper spray: 5m<br />><br />> Dorset Naga: 923,000<br />><br />> Red Savina habanero: 577,000<br />><br />> Scotch bonnet: 100,000-325,000<br />><br />> Jamaican hot pepper: 100,000-200,000<br />><br />> Cayenne pepper: 30,000-50,000<br />><br />> Jalapeno pepper: 2,500-8,000<br />><br />> Tabasco sauce: 2,500<br />><br />> Pimento: 100 to 500<br />><br />> Bell pepper: 0
<br /><br /><br />>> The Times April 01, 2006<br />><br />> The chilli so hot you need gloves<br />> By Simon de Bruxelles<br />><br />> ::nobreak::THE world's hottest chilli pepper does not come from a <br />tropical <br />> hot spot where the locals are impervious to its fiery heat but a <br />> smallholding in deepest Dorset.<br />><br />> Some chillis are fierce enough to make your eyes water. Anyone <br />foolhardy <br />> enough to eat a whole Dorset Naga would almost certainly require <br />hospital <br />> treatment.<br />><br />> The pepper, almost twice as hot as the previous record- holder, was <br />grown <br />> by Joy and Michael Michaud in a poly- tunnel at their market garden. <br />The <br />> couple run a business called Peppers by Post and spent four years <br />> developing the Dorset Naga.<br />><br />> They knew the 2cm-long specimens were hot because they had to wear <br />gloves <br />> and remove the seeds outdoors when preparing them for drying, but had <br />no <br />> idea they had grown a record-breaker.<br />><br />> Some customers complained the peppers were so fiery that even half a <br />small <br />> one would make a curry too hot to eat. Others loved them and the <br />Michauds <br />> sold a quarter of a million Dorset Nagas last year. At the end of <br />last <br />> season Mrs Michaud sent a sample to a laboratory in America out of <br />> curiosity. The owner had never tested anything like it.<br />><br />> According to Mrs Michaud, the hottest habañero peppers popular in <br />> chilli-eating competitions in the US generally measure about 100,000 <br />units <br />> on the standard Scoville scale, named after its inventor, Wilbur <br />Scoville, <br />> who developed it in 1912. At first the scale was a subjective taste <br />test <br />> but it later developed into the measure of capsaicinoids present. The <br />> hottest chilli pepper in The Guinness Book of Records is a Red Savina <br />> habañero with a rating of 570,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU).<br />><br />> Mrs Michaud was stunned when the Dorset Naga gave a reading of nearly <br />> 900,000SHU. A fresh sample was sent to a lab in New York used by the <br />> American Spice Trade Association and recorded a mouth-numbing <br />923,000SHUs.<br />><br />> Mrs Michaud said: "The man in the first lab was so excited - he'd <br />never <br />> had one even half as hot as that. The second lab took a long time <br />because <br />> they were checking it carefully as it was so outrageously high."<br />><br />> The Dorset Naga was grown from a plant that originated in Bangladesh. <br />The <br />> Michauds bought their original plant in an oriental store in <br />Bournemouth. <br />> Mrs Michaud said: "We weren't even selecting the peppers for hotness <br />but <br />> for shape and flavour. There is an element of machismo in peppers <br />that we <br />> aren't really interested in. When the results of the heat tests came <br />back <br />> I was gobsmacked."<br />><br />> The couple are now seeking Plant Variety Protection from the <br />Department <br />> for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which will mean that no one <br />else <br />> can sell the seeds.<br />><br />> Mrs Michaud, 48, has run the company with her husband at West <br />Bexington, <br />> near Dorchester, for ten years. Mr Michaud, 56, has been a regular on <br />the <br />> television chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage series, <br />> advising on vegetable growing.<br />><br />> Anyone wanting to try the Dorset Naga will have to be patient as <br />chillis <br />> are harvested only from July on. In Bangladesh the chillies grow in <br />> temperatures of well over 100F (38C) but in Dorset they thrive in <br />> polytunnels.<br />><br />> Aktar Miha, from the Indus Bangladeshi restaurant in Bournemouth, <br />said <br />> that even in its home country the naga chilli was treated with <br />respect. <br />> "It is used in some cooking, mainly with fish curries, but most <br />people <br />> don't cook with it. They hold it by the stalk and just touch their <br />food <br />> with it," he said.<br />><br />> "It has a refreshing smell and a very good taste but you don't want <br />too <br />> much of it. It is a killer chilli and you have to be careful and wash <br />your <br />> hands and the cutting board. If you don't know what you are doing it <br />could <br />> blow your head off."<br />><br />> FROM HOT TO NOT<br />><br />> Scoville Heat Units<br />><br />> Pure capsaicin: 15m to 16m<br />><br />> US Police-grade pepper spray: 5m<br />><br />> Dorset Naga: 923,000<br />><br />> Red Savina habanero: 577,000<br />><br />> Scotch bonnet: 100,000-325,000<br />><br />> Jamaican hot pepper: 100,000-200,000<br />><br />> Cayenne pepper: 30,000-50,000<br />><br />> Jalapeno pepper: 2,500-8,000<br />><br />> Tabasco sauce: 2,500<br />><br />> Pimento: 100 to 500<br />><br />> Bell pepper: 0
