Tuesday, September 20, 2016

A morning ritual

On the breakfast table are salt and pepper of course, some ketchup packets, and Worcestershire. And some strange bottle called "Peri peri sauce." What could that be, my curious children wondered. So one day we opened the bottle and everybody smelled it.

HOOWEE that'll wake you up in the morning! We all smelled it and agreed that was pungent stuff and we didn't care for it. Then the next morning JT asked to smell it again. *sniff* "Mmm. Yuck." The next morning he asked to smell it again, pronounced it Mmm-Yuck, and repeated it the next day and nearly every day since.


(If you can't hear the video very clearly, a translation is below the fold)

Image result for gerber picante sauceSince he was so interested, I asked one day if he'd like to taste it. Why yes, he would! So I put a little dribble on his plate. He dipped some bread into it, tasted it, and ... had no words for the experience he was having. He sure had some interesting faces for it, though!
So I looked it up. All the bottle admits to are the banal ingredients of vinegar, garlic, and chilies (and a few other things). What it neglects to mention is the Scoville rating of the variously-spelled piri piri chili or African bird's eye chili.

Poblano chilies are a meager 1000 Scoville. 
Jalepenos are 3500-5000, even without their tilde.
Tobasco sauce is 30,000-50,000.
Piri piri chilies clock in somewhere between 75,000 to 150,000 Scoville!

And I gave that to my toddler! I felt terrible.

In repentance, I asked him if he would like me to taste it. Why yes, he would! So I put a little dribble on my plate. I dipped some bread into it, took a bite, and enjoyed the feeling of clear sinuses. WOW! That's some good stuff! (For those wondering about my man card, I did not rush to the water but enjoyed the slow burn.)



*Translation of the video:

Son, what do you want?
"I want this. 'Mell it."
You want to smell it?
"Yeah. Ah. ... Mmm, yuck."

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