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2011-04-13 08:47:17
By Brett Michael Dykes
Fighting fire with more fire -- and a WWF-worthy name -- there's a new champ
holding the title of world's hottest chili pepper.
As you may recall, in December The Lookout reported on the Naga Viper and its
initiation as the chili pepper with the most heat. But now there's a hotter
ticket in town: the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T.
Yes, the Butch T. outdistances the Naga Viper, barely, on the Scoville scale --
which rates spice power by tracking the presence of a chemical compound in
chilis. The Australian Butch T. weighs in at 1.46 million heat units on the
scale, while the British Naga Viper tops out at 1.38 million. For comparison,
the average jalapeno pepper falls around 5,000.
"They're just severe, absolutely severe," Marcel de Wit, co-owner of the chili
farm that produced the pepper, told Australian Geographic. "No wonder they
start making crowd-control grenades now with chillies. It's just wicked." He
added that the pepper is so potent, he and his his team have to wear protective
gloves when handling the Butch T., lest their hands are left "pumping heat for
two days later." Making salsa with the Butch T., he explained, involves wearing
chemical masks and body suits to defend against fumes given off in the cooking
heat.
After being given some rare seeds by Aussie farmer Neil Smith, de Wit began
cultivating the Butch T. two years ago. The champion chili will also soon be
the main ingredient in a stingingly hot sauce called the Scorpion Strike.