Fire in My Belly Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ghost Pepper

The ghost pepper or bhut jolokia pepper is a red pepper from the Assam region of India that for a time was considered the world's hottest pepper. Hotness in peppers is a measure of the amount of capsaicin concentrated in the pepper. The more capsaicin in the pepper, the greater the sensation of heat to the taste. Capsaicin concentration is measured in Scoville units named after a scale developed by Wilbur Scoville in 1912 to provide an empirical context of relative pepper concentrations. Scoville's original method of testing was to use human "raters", but today chromatography is used to accurately pinpoint the amount of capsaicin in a pepper.

With that background, the ghost chili has a Scoville rating of approximately 1,000,000 units. Put in another context, in order to eliminate the capsaicin reaction the pepper would need to be diluted in water 1,000,000 times. By contrast, a jalapeno pepper has only on average an 8000 Scoville rating. So if anyone offers you an oyster cracker sprinkled with bhut jolokia powder, you might want to think twice before reaching for the bowl.

Answer: Say thanks and eat it

Jerk is a fiery mixture of spices rubbed onto meat before cooking. The word jerk is related to the English word jerky and is taken from the Spanish word for dried meat, charqui. The origin of the Jamaican jerk spice is likely an amalgamation of dried food recipes from African slaves brought to the Island combined with the native Carib populations recipes. Jerked foods are both highly favorable and common in Caribbean cooking. Most jerk spice rubs will include chili pepper and allspice, and then some mixture of other local spices including cinnamon, cloves, garlic, onion powder and nutmeg.

The heat in jerked foods comes from the Scotch bonnet pepper. The Scotch bonnet is a variety of pepper found throughout the Caribbean. The pepper is named for its resemblance to the Scottish hat, the Tam O'Shanter. Scotch bonnet peppers are not to be toyed with as their Scoville rating is between 100,000 and 350,000 Scoville units, making them some of the hottest peppers in the world. Scotch bonnets are often confused with the closely related habanero pepper as the two are both similar in size and shape. Scotch bonnets are considered to be the sweeter tasting of the two, but both pack a wallop of belly inducing fire.

Answer: United Kingdom

Phall is a generic name for a type of curry dish, first served in England's ubiquitous curry houses. The name is a play on the word phallus since the heat of the dish requires a person to "man up" so to speak. Restaurants in Birmingham UK claim to be the first to serve the dish. On most menus, phall's intense spice make the dish the hottest type of curry that can be ordered in a restaurant. Most phall is served in a tomato based sauce with meats such as chicken, lamb or beef. Some places will also make a phall paste as a separate condiment to be added at the risk of the diner.

If you are in New York and searching for a fiery meal, try the Phall Challenge at the Brick Lane Curry House. Here, diners must sign a liability waiver before being served a dish of curry that the Brick House calls "an excruciatingly hot curry, more pain and sweat than flavor". For the diner who manages to eat a serving of the phall, the Brick House gives them a commemorative certificate, their picture on the P'Hall of Fame and a free beer.

Answer: Thailand

Neua Pad Prik or Thai pepper steak is a simple dish of beef, garlic, shallots, green and red bell peppers, fish sauce, palm sugar and birds-eye Thai peppers. Like many Thai dishes, Neua Pad Prik can be spiced to the taste of the diner. Thai chilies or birds-eye peppers are a small red pepper with a distinct sweet flavor that hides the intense heat. Birds-eye chilies measure in the 75,000-100,000 Scoville unit range, making them not quite as hot as Habanero or Scotch bonnet peppers. All pepper heat is a matter of personal preference.

However many commentators and hot food aficionados acknowledge that the Thai chili gives off an intense and lingering heat that often belies the chili's relatively pedestrian Scoville rating. Personally, a little Thai spice goes a long way to firing up my mouth and belly.

Answer: True

All chili peppers are a species of fruit that are part of the genus Capsicum and part of the Nightshade (Solanaceae) family of plants. Thus, peppers are related to tomatoes and tobacco. Like these other New World plants, all species of Capsicum plants originate in Central and South America. Peppers were used in cooking by the Meso-American tribes for thousands of years before their "discovery" by Spanish and Portuguese explorers in the 15th Century. Christopher Columbus is considered the first European to encounter the fruit and is credited with attaching the name "pepper" to the plants, in reference to the fruit's spicy flavor. As with many other names supplied by Columbus, his name of "pepper" was a misnomer. Europeans at the time would have been familiar with white and black pepper derived from the seeds of trees in the Piper genus.

The dissemination of Capsicum type plants across Asia and Africa is less linked to the Spanish and more to the travels of Portuguese traders into these regions. Today chili peppers are grown across the globe, and many of the fieriest species are grown in India and Southeast Asia.

Answer: Horseradish

Horseradish is the heat inducing culprit that lights up your belly when you eat most shrimp cocktail sauces. Horseradish and mustard are both members of the Brassicaceae family of plants. Oddly enough Brassicaceae plants also include the cabbage universe, making horseradish a close cousin of broccoli, cauliflower and turnips. Horseradishes are considered native to Eastern Europe. Written descriptions of the plant date back to at least 1500 B.C. Horseradish is made from grinding or chopping the plant's root. Most horseradish is served as a condiment or ingredient in prepared foods. A popular variety of horseradish is mixed with beet juice to form a rich red color.

The spicy taste of horseradishes and mustards is unrelated to the capsaicin that produces the fire in peppers. Mustard oil (caution science geek alerts!) is a chemical compound called allyl isothiocyanate that is produced when the cell walls of the horseradish root is ground or shredded. The higher the concentrate of the allyl isothiocyanate, the more fiery the horseradish. Unlike peppers, there is no comparable rating system to the Scoville units for horseradish sauces or preparations. Test your horseradish eating skills and grab a jar of horseradish from your local store, or even better find a fresh horseradish root and grind your own blend.

Answer: Vietnam

Pho is a rice noodle soup that is a common comfort food in Vietnam. The dish originated in the north of Vietnam in the early 20th Century as street food for the working classes and spread south during the later years of the French colonization period.

When refugees fled Vietnam after the fall of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) in 1975, pho spread across the world. Pho is usually served with thin strips of meat cooked in a clear broth along with the noodles. The diner is offered a variety of condiments that normally include spicy additions like Sriracha sauce, Thai chili peppers and various herbs and vegetables.

As the popularity of Vietnamese cooking spreads, pho houses are becoming common sites across the world.

Answer: Stew

Ethiopian food has gained significant followings in the United States and Western Europe. Perhaps, the most recognizable dish is a thick spicy stew called wat. Varieties of wat come in many flavors, but all start out as onions simmered down in a pot with little or no fat or oil. To the onion paste, a mixture of spices called a berbere adds plenty of heat. Berbere spice mixtures are commonly made from local peppers and spices such as fenugreek, garlic, turmeric, cumin and cardamom. Once the onions and spices have blended, meat or vegetables are added to form the stew. The wat is served on a plate, along with a soft spongy bread called injera. Injera serves as both a carbohydrate and a utensil for picking up the wat. A typical Ethiopian meal in the West is a large serving of injera surrounded by various types of wat.

Kifto is another spicy Ethiopian dish. Kifto is minced beef mixed with mitmita spice mixture. The mitmita contains a healthy dose of the fiery African birds-eye chili or piri piri pepper that comes in at over 175,000 Scoville units, making it similar to a Scotch bonnet or habanero pepper in heat level. For the vegetarian spice lover, a collard green dish infused with berbere or mitmita spice called gomen kitfo is available.

Answer: Habanero

This contest is not even close. Poblano chilies are mild peppers topping out at a mere 1000-2000 Scoville units. The poblano is often roasted to form the equally mild ancho chili paste. Both poblano and ancho chili are common ingredients, but do not bring the heat. The venerable and popular jalapeņo pepper is slightly hotter with an 8,000 average Scoville unit and the fieriest topping out at a mere 10,000 Scovilles. Serrano chilies can pack as much as a 25,000 Scoville punch, but hardly make a dent to the common Mexican diner. Many Mexicans will consume Serrano chilies fresh as an appetizer or pallet cleanser.

For real heat in your Mexican dish, you need to use habanero peppers. These little red fireballs can top out at over 350,000 Scoville units. Habanero peppers have been a staple in Mayan and Amazonian cuisine for over 8,000 years. When travelling in the Mexican Riviera or Yucatan peninsula, almost all dishes will contain some amount of habanero spice, either in or accompanying the dish. So if you can't stand the heat then stay away from the Mayan kitchen!

Answer: Water

Water may actually prolong and expand the sense of heat from eating capsaicin rich foods. The reason water does not cool the capsaicin burn is that the chemicals in peppers are water soluble. Thus, rather than break down the capsaicin molecules water spreads them around your mouth and digestive track. Alcohol does break the heat inducing molecules, but the effect is still limited: the alcohol concentration in beer is too low to offer immediate help. The same is true for wine and even grain spirits. Scientific tests have concluded that you would need to consume 10 ounces of 70-proof liquor to ameliorate the effects of 1 ounce of capsaicin in food.

Milk is however mostly fat. Fats bond with and neutralize the capsaicin. Milk in particular contains casein, which works exceptionally well in breaking down capsaicin. Milk based products like yoghurt, ice cream and cheese are also helpful in cooling the fire. Other methods that are considered helpful to tame the pepper heat include eating fried foods, such as French fries or chicken wings or sucking on a sugar cube.