Mount Bhut Jolokia

Just as soon as Bhut Jolokia is identified as the hottest chile in the world, someone steps forth to conquer it.

Guwahati, India - A woman from India's north eastern state of Assam is hoping to set a world record by eating a maximum amount of chilies in the least time. If successful, Anandita Dutta Tamuly will also be the world's first person to eat a massive quantity of the world's hottest peppers.

Tamuly is extremely confident of besting the pepper, because she's an experienced summiter already.

"I have created history on Indian television by munching 60 of the chilies in two minutes. I am more than confident of creating a record once I reach London."

"I have been eating Bhut Jolokia since my childhood and never felt the hotness in my mouth. I can even break the chilli and splash it on my eyes. I tried this on TV and had no problems whatsoever."

The Assam government will pay for her trip to set the record. The previous world record appears to be 8 jalapenos in a minute, a pretty small bump compared to 60 Bhut Jolokias and a little Bhut Jolokia eyewash.

One consequence of the chile's new fame is its price is climbing.

"We never thought Bhut Jolokia was so hot until news came in that this is the world's hottest chilli. Now we have hiked the prices by Rs.50 a kg and people are buying it like hot cakes," said Nalini Ram Thakuria, a vegetable vendor in Guwahati.

Note: In New Mexico, it's spelled "chile," not "chili."

Tags: Chile, Chili, Bhut Jolokia, Anandita Dutta Tamuly

Adobe Wall

An old adobe wall along a quiet Mesilla street.

Tags: Adobe, Mesilla

World's Hottest Chile

An NMSU professor has identified what is evidently the hottest chile in the world:

In fall of 2006, the Guinness Book of Records confirmed that New Mexico State University Regent’s Professor Paul Bosland had indeed discovered the world’s hottest chile pepper, Bhut Jolokia.

Bhut Jolokia, at 1,001,304 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), is nearly twice as hot as Red Savina, the chile pepper variety it replaces as the world’s hottest. A New Mexico green chile contains about 1,500 SHUs and an average jalapeno measures at about 10,000 SHUs.

"The name Bhut Jolokia translates as ‘ghost chile,’" Bosland said, "we’re not sure why they call it that, but I think it’s because the chile is so hot, you give up the ghost when you eat it!"

According to Bosland, Bhut Jolokia is a naturally occurring inter-specific hybrid indigenous to the Assam region of northeastern India. A member of NMSU’s Chile Pepper Institute visiting India sent Bhut Jolokia seeds back to NMSU for testing in 2001.

"The plant doesn’t set fruit very well, so it took a couple of years to get enough for field testing," Bosland said.

Bhut Jolokia Chile -- NMSU photo.
The Scoville Heat Units scale for measuring pepper hotness is named in honor of Wilbur Lincoln Scoville, who invented the first method of measuring hotness. The hot substance in chiles is capsaicin. Pure capsaicin has a Scoville Heat rating of 15 to 16 million.

The Chile Pepper Institute was established in 1992 and is located at New Mexico State University.

Tags: Hottest Chile, NMSU, Chile Pepper Institute, Capsaicin

"Development"

Mesilla is getting something it's never had -- apartments (how rare is that in today's world?). Two apartment complexes are now going up, as you can see here:


The Mesilla City Council, which does take its responsibility to preserve historic Mesilla seriously, approved these projects.

But why? Apartment complexes are totally out of character for Mesilla. They will increase the traffic and population density without contributing in any way to Mesilla's wonderful qualities.

But perhaps worst of all, they are now the tallest structures in Mesilla except for San Albino.

Tags: Mesilla Development, Mesilla Apartments