5 ms·
Anecdote allowed? This reminds me of the Habanero Burger at "The Swinging Door" pub (I'm not sure it had the same name when I went there occasionally over 10 y
by Noseshine 10y ago
Anecdote allowed?
This reminds me of the Habanero Burger at "The Swinging Door" pub (I'm not sure it had the same name when I went there occasionally over 10 years ago, the first time actually almost 20 years ago in 1997) in San Mateo, CA [0]. (EDIT: It was the Prince of Wales pub previously! Lots of Habanero Burger stories: [1])
They had a "Wall of Flame" with stickers from all people who "survived" eating one. You had to sign a release form before you got your burger (shown in [1]). As another ex-colleague of mine used to say: Good spicy food hurts twice...
I only ever ate one tiny piece off a colleague's plate. Initially I thought "I feel nothing, what's the big deal?" I then spent a good part of the next half hour with my tongue hung out under flowing water from the faucet in the bathroom.
The people I saw try it either ate very fast, to be finished before the full pain set in, or very, very slowly. Except for an Indian friend of mine, who seemed pretty unmoved and ate the whole burger normally.
By the way, I don't remember the day of the week, but I always went there when the "Silicon Gulch Jazz Band" was playing [2][3]. Back then the (good) singer, an old guy (like all others in that band), played a washboard, really cool. The music was really good (the singing too) :-)
[0] http://theswingindoor.com/habanero-burger-xxx/ http://theswingindoor.com/habanero-burger-xxx/
[1] https://www.yelp.com/biz/prince-of-wales-pub-san-mateo https://www.yelp.com/biz/prince-of-wales-pub-san-mateo
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mOPl4BXqD8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mOPl4BXqD8
[3] http://www.sgjazz.com/ http://www.sgjazz.com/
- Raphmedia 10y ago> my tongue hung out under flowing water from the faucet in the bathroom. Oh god. Capsaicin is not water soluble. You just removed everything from your tongue BUT the capsaicin.
- Noseshine 10y agoI know (and knew). It was pain control, not capsaicin control. Fortunately they had some disgusting Oreo-cookie like ice cream sandwich that I got in the end.
- Raphmedia 10y agoAlcohol works too! ;D
- avar 10y agoI wonder if I'm the only one who finds water helps a bit. I know it's not water soluble, but it has the effect of evenly distributing the burn around my mouth, which feels better to me. For some reason I'm a lot more bothered by extremely localized pain than evenly distributed pain, when you chew a pepper you tend to e.g. disproportionately burn on one side of your tongue. Drinking some water and swishing it around in your mouth solves that problem.
- Raphmedia 10y agoI've heard water can break down the capsaicin into smaller parts. Could be what's happening here.
- guitarbill 10y agoCould it be psychological also? Like a placebo?
- evincarofautumn 10y agoIt is soluble in alcohol! Now, I don’t know if drinking alcohol with spicy food actually helps the burn, but it can certainly help take your mind off it.
- peferron 10y agoHaha, I was also thinking about the Swinging Door while reading these comments. I haven't even had the courage to try their XXX burger yet, the "basic" habanero burger is already enough for me. If you ever go back, try getting an ice cream sandwich after your burger, works much better than water :)
- sib 10y agoIf you ever happen to be traveling through Boise, ID, stop at the Flying Pie Pizzeria and try a triple habanero pizza. 12" pizza with 18 southern Mexican habaneros on it. http://www.flyingpie.com/habanero-season.htm http://www.flyingpie.com/habanero-season.htm
- chrischattin 10y agoI can second this. One of the best pizzas you'll ever eat. They only make them in August - which is apparently when the habaneros are the hottest.
- sib 10y agoThanks for the reminder - I forgot to mention that very important fact!