Love for Chilies

I absolutely love anything spicy. Curries, and chilies are some of my favorite foods, and I tend to order it in restaurants as hot as possible. I even make my own hot sauce, and it's so hot that I had a coughing attack while making it (total habanero). Last night I was at dinner at Pranna, and ordered Malaysian goat curry and asked the chef to please make it spicy. When it came to the table it wasn't remotely hot enough for me, so I did something that I rarely do, I sent it back. When it came back it still wasn't hot enough but the chef put 2 types of chili paste next to it. I dumped the entire contents of the hotter one in my curry, stirred it up and began to eat. My lips were on fire, I was giddy and smiling and laughing and oh so happy. This is a common trend for me; I eat something that is so hot that tears are running down my face but I don't surrender, I keep eating and am so happy. Often I find myself saying "oooh it's so hot but oh so good", as I'm sweating like a pig. After the hot curry I ate a bite of ice cream that my friend ordered which had green hot chilies poking out of it...LOVED IT! Brilliant!...So I have come to the conclusion that it really is true; Capsaicin (the active chemical in red chili peppers) also has been shown to stimulate endorphin release. This explains why I'm so happy and giddy and constantly doing the food dance as tears are running down my face.

For all of you who crave that endorphin rush, or simply just love hot foods, try making your own hot sauce. You can experiment with different types of chilies; just make sure that you add vinegar and salt to anything you do and grind them in the blender or food processor. Oh yeah, and most importantly wear gloves!