slb@drutx.UUCP (Sue Brezden) (06/16/85)
> The basic substance of "hotness" in pepper oil >and many other hot items is capsacin. Capsacin is lipid soluble, not water >soluble. So water by itself is not very effective in removing it. Try some- >thing with more lipid in it, like milk, or oil. This is also why yogurt is >an effective quencher served at indian restaurants. Very true! That's why I like milk with Mexican food. Not as classic as beer, but if you are eating very hot stuff, milk clears the mouth much more effectively. -- Sue Brezden Real World: Room 1B17 Net World: ihnp4!drutx!slb AT&T Information Systems 11900 North Pecos Westminster, Co. 80234 (303)538-3829 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Send lawyers, guns, and money... -Warren Zevon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
cuccia@ucbvax.ARPA (Nick "Coosh" Cuccia) (06/17/85)
In article <3041@drutx.UUCP> slb@drutx.UUCP (Sue Brezden) writes: > >> The basic substance of "hotness" in pepper oil >>and many other hot items is capsacin. Capsacin is lipid soluble, not water >>soluble. So water by itself is not very effective in removing it. Try some- >>thing with more lipid in it, like milk, or oil. This is also why yogurt is >>an effective quencher served at indian restaurants. > > >Very true! That's why I like milk with Mexican food. Not as classic >as beer, but if you are eating very hot stuff, milk clears the mouth >much more effectively. >-- > > Sue Brezden This is why I'm really bummed about Coke changing its formula! The new stuff doesn't quite cut it when eating hot stuff... ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ --Nick "Coosh" Cuccia --{...}!ucbvax!cuccia (USENET) --cuccia%ucbmiro@Berkeley (Arpanet) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
nemo@rochester.UUCP (Wolfe) (06/19/85)
> > The basic substance of "hotness" in pepper oil > >and many other hot items is capsacin. Capsacin is lipid soluble, not water > >soluble. So water by itself is not very effective in removing it. Try some- > >thing with more lipid in it, like milk, or oil. This is also why yogurt is > >an effective quencher served at indian restaurants. > Very true! That's why I like milk with Mexican food. Not as classic > as beer, but if you are eating very hot stuff, milk clears the mouth > much more effectively. > Sue Brezden This month's Scientific American has a review in the book section of what appears to be a contemporary classic on peppers (for shame! I have forgotten the author's name; she is a chemist, artist, gardener and cook in Texas). She figured out that 1 part household bleach to 5 parts water should remove and destroy any capsacin on your hands (be sure to rinse well afterwards). I plan on getting the book. For oral antidotes to excessive pepper, I recall the cure for aji I found in a small Peruvian restaurant. Aji is a sauce, apparently made of pureed very hot peppers ("ah-HEE" was probably the first sound anyone coming in contact with them made, thereby giving the pepper and the sauce their name). It is orangish in color, and my first try of five drops on my entire dinner was way too much. Back to the point... they also served some cookies called "alfajores" (sp?), consisting of two shortbread-like disks sandwiching a layer of caramelized condensed milk (it looked kind of like translucent peanut butter, but they assured me that it was slowly heated condensed milk, which browns and thickens). The starchy, oily (lipids!) cookies stopped the burning sensation in a matter of a minute or two. SO try some shortbread the next time you wish you had had a lighter hand with the peppers. Nemo -- Internet: nemo@rochester.arpa UUCP: {decvax, allegra, seismo, cmcl2}!rochester!nemo Phone: [USA] (716) 275-5766 work, 232-4690 home USMail: 104 Tremont Circle; Rochester, NY 14608 School: Department of Computer Science; University of Rochester; Rochester, NY 14627
jeff@rtech.UUCP (Jeff Lichtman) (06/29/85)
> ... they also served some cookies called > "alfajores" (sp?), consisting of two shortbread-like disks sandwiching a > layer of caramelized condensed milk (it looked kind of like translucent > peanut butter, but they assured me that it was slowly heated condensed milk, > which browns and thickens). > > Nemo To make the carmelized milk, take a can of sweetened condensed milk, and submerge it unopened in simmering water. Keep it there for four hours. The can must remain covered at all times; if you let the water boil away, the can could explode. After four hours, remove the can and let it cool. Inside will be a very thick caramel sauce. It's great on ice cream. -- Jeff Lichtman at rtech (Relational Technology, Inc.) aka Swazoo Koolak {amdahl, sun}!rtech!jeff {ucbvax, decvax}!mtxinu!rtech!jeff