Pass the peppers, please!
August 2009
There’s something about my personal life I try not to bring up too often, unless somebody else mentions it first. But it’s not something I try to keep a secret, either.
I’m addicted to hot peppers. I eat them every day, they are the reason this column is called “Hot Stuff” and the reason my trademark is hot pepper earrings. I just really, really like hot peppers.
I can’t remember ever not liking hot peppers, even when I was a child. My pepper addiction apparently began while my mom was pregnant with me.
So when people started asking me why I was such a “pepper-head” (also now commonly referred to as a “chile-head” or “C.H.”), I asked my mom about it. And she recalled that she had craved and eaten many hot peppers while she was pregnant with me. Several of her sisters used to grow cayenne peppers, the first kind of hot peppers I remember eating, and still one of my favorites. My mom and dad, and just about all my relatives, kept a jar of hot peppers in vinegar and a bottle of hot sauce next to the salt and pepper shakers on our tables. So, I guess my addiction is hereditary, and, thank goodness, legal!
Everyone who knows me well can tell you that every time I eat I will have to have hot peppers in some form – raw, cooked, canned, frozen, pickled, sauced, ground, flaked, pureed, you name it – on the side. In my purse, I always carry a small bottle of Tabasco and a shaker of ground red pepper, just in case I have to eat somewhere that doesn’t have any kind of hot peppers on hand.
But if I’m eating out and don’t have my emergency supply, or if I suspect there might be some kind of fresh or good hot peppers or pepper sauce tucked away in the kitchen, I’ve been known to ask for the head cook or chef to see if they will come up with some kind of special hot stuff to share with me.
I try not to do that too often, however, lest it annoy or embarrass someone eating with me. My friend and business partner, Lynn Wasson, has witnessed me in some of these earnest hot pepper discussions with waiters and chefs. She describes it as looking like someone conducting a “drug deal,” which, in my case, I guess it sort of is.
I do love walking into a restaurant and discovering a pepper surprise, however, like the shakers of ground red pepper I saw at Cajun’s Backdoor in Van Buren the last time I was there (you don’t often see that even in New Orleans!) and the awesome, fresh hot pepper sauce now being made by Joann and Peter Paolino to serve at their Sacred Grounds restaurant in downtown Fort Smith.
Fresh peppers are my first choice, of course. But I’ll take just about any kind of a hot pepper in just about any form – as long as it has heat AND flavor, and a bite or two of food to go with it – even if it’s just a bit of bread, a tomato slice or a piece of cheese. Heat without flavor is not acceptable as far as I’m concerned. I scorn those “Insanity”-type sauces that will heat you up, but taste awful. And don’t ever look for me at a hot pepper eating contest. That sort of thing makes no sense unless you’re a little on the masochistic side, and some pepperheads admittedly are. The same ingedient in hot peppers (capsaicin) that can burn your tongue and skin and really hurt you, can also cause your nervous system to produce endorphins that can help lower pain. Various capsaicin-containing pain relievers for arthritis and other chronically painful conditions can be found in most drug stores these days.
Capsaicin also can cause your nervous system to release endorphins that can cause a temporary sense of well-being that can become, as some experts put it, mildly addictive or even an obsession. Hmmm. And, people who eat a lot of capsaicin-rich food such as hot peppers can build up such a tolerance to its pain-inducing properties that they can stand much more pepper “burn factor” than the occasional (or light weight) pepper eater. That’s why I never make food for my family and friends hot enough for my taste – I add it to my own plate. I don’t want to burn anyone up, especially someone I love!
I have some pepperhead friends who aren’t above such a thing, though. And if you ever want to get me started telling some tales, just ask me about them.
Linda Seubold, editor of Entertainment Fort Smith Magazine, can be reached at lindaseubold@efortsmith.com. Read her archived columns and articles online.
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