MegaScovilles

Thu 20 Nov 2003 8:02:49

In the "Learn Something New Every Day" Department, peppers have a Heat Scale, in which the quantity of the chemical capsaicin is measured in "Scoville Units." That's right: Scoville Units. And according to this gardener, some siling labuyo varieties can reach 100,000 Scoville Units. I can vouch for that, having accidentally bitten into a whole fresh sili in my chopsuey when I was in college. And I've known people who eat sili like potato chips.