Recent Posts
Culture August 30, 2017
I'm too hot, hot damn!
On Cook Something Bold Day don’t go for Top Ramen. Pull out all the cookware and be bold. November 8th of every year people are inspired to get serious in the kitchen and whip up something original and spicy.
If it’s too hot, some leave the kitchen. Can you handle the heat?
ENTITY shares five of the spiciest recipes in the world that will have you screaming for water.
Stews are referred to as wats in the Ethiopian culture, The sik sik wat stew is a spicy beef soup that is a classic Ethiopian dish. Some ingredients are ginger, garlic cloves and nutmeg. What makes this particular dish so fiery is the black pepper and berbere. Berbere is an Ethiopian spice mixture that contains korarima, rue and ajwainlla which are native elements from Ethiopia.
It is labeled as one of the top spiciest foods due to its Ethiopian spices.
The dish is popular amongst British men who actually dare each other to eat it. The dish uses red chilies and is usually served in British curry houses. Vindaloo is an Indian dish that has Portuguese origins and comes from the Portuguese phrase “carne de vinha d’alhos,” which means meat and garlic wine marinade.
The recipe includes vinegar, ginger, spices, chili peppers and is usually served with pork.
It may look harmless, but we all know that looks can be deceiving. This Peruvian dish is made with potatoes, eggs, queso fresco and a special pepper called Aji Amarillo. In scientific terms, the pepper is referred to as Capsicum baccatum chili. The Capsicum baccatum plant is differentiated by its black seeds and fuzzy leaves. This plant is also very resilient. It can survive any type of weather, whether it be scorching hot or even low temperatures.
It is even claimed to be hotter than the habanero pepper.
The name is very suiting because it definitely has first-timers yelling hot! Sichuan hot pot has been around in China for around 1,000 years, and before was only served in the winter. The pot is filled with meats and different broths and also has a numbing effect when it gets too spicy for takers.
LAWeekly reporter James Gordon says that he will never forget his first experience with the Sichuan hot pot.
“You will remember your first Sichuan hot pot experience – I certainly remember mine, in Chengdu, where after just a few minutes of grappling with the liquid lava I was forced outside to sweat out a couple days’ worth of water and contemplate life choices as peppercorn-induced numbness snuck its way up my jaw,” wrote Gordon.
It’s not your typical grilled chicken. The Jamaican cuisine came to be all thanks to the native Taino people. The Taino tribe would cook the meat over a fire and jerk chicken connoisseurs say that this is still the best way to cook jerk chicken. According to Serious Eats writer Lauren Rothman, wood is essential to cooking jerk chicken.
“To cook the chicken (or the pork, also widely available at jerk joints), it all starts with the wood, which, in the form of charcoals, is laid under huge metal grates and continually stoked to stay roaring hot. Then, big logs of pimento or allspice wood are laid on top of the grates. The meat is placed directly on top of the green wood, then covered with big sheets of metal,” writes Rothman.
It is the African people who were brought to the island who gave jerk chicken it’s spicy taste though. The spices included hot peppers, sweet allspice berries, thyme and ginger. You can still find jerk chicken being cooked in huts all across Jamaica today.
If you dare take a bite out of one of these dishes, remember you are not just biting into Satan’s haven, but you’re biting into a little bit of culture as well.
