Beating the Heat: Part 3

Here we are: the final installment of our beating the heat series. The first week, we talked about hot weather and varieties that can withstand growing in extreme heat. Last week, we talked about varieties that can naturally cool and hydrate you when hot. Now, let’s talk about one of the most important reasons we may need to beat the heat: spice.

When eating chile peppers or anything spicy, your mouth will begin to feel like its on fire. This type of heat can follow you year-round, any time you eat something spicy really. The mouth-on-fire feeling is maybe one of the worst feelings when eating, so let’s break down how to beat this type of heat:

1. Avoid Water: When there’s a fire, fire fighters use water to put it out. When we’re hot, we sometimes jump into a body of water to cool off. So, avoiding water here may go against what innately makes sense to us. Here’s the thing – chile peppers contain capsicum, which is oil-based. Cooking 101: oil and water don’t mix. So, when you take that sip of water to cut through the heat, you’re really just spreading it around and worsening the mouth feel.
2. Drink Milk Instead: Rather than drinking water, drink milk instead. Or, anything diary based. Many diary products contain casein, which breaks down capsicum rather than spreading it.
3. Rice: Rice can help cool your mouth down as well. Rice is like a sponge, it absorbs flavors, sauces, and liquids, including oils like capsicum.
4. Protect Yourself First: Remember, the heat comes from the oil, not the seeds of a chile pepper. This means that touching a chile pepper, then your eyes, nose, or body parts, can spread that oil and cause the fire sensation elsewhere than your mouth. To avoid this, wear gloves, avoid touching yourself, and wash your hands thoroughly when handling chile peppers.