It's hot!

83 degrees now in Merida -- pleasantly warm.  Probably peak somewhere in the mid-90s this week -- a little hot, but not bad.  In our upstairs room, mid-afternoon -- maybe 100 degrees, terrific for a siesta.  But if you want real hot -- turn to these: Habañeros.

It's hot!

Originated in the Amazon basin way back, then spread throughout the tropical areas of the Americas.  People have been eating them for at least 8500 years -- seeds have been found in old archeological kitchen site digs in Peru.  Yucatan is the world's largest producer today.

Many of us human beings will eat anything once (".. count me in, gimme a taste, it might be good...").  But it's a bit of a mystery why any of us would eat these twice!  Actually, they are terrific, but you've got to be very careful with them.  They are one of the world's hotter peppers, up to about 350,000 units on the Scoville scale.

We can get them here at the local market.  Price is so low they are all but free.  Have been cooking with them as a key building block of dinners, and a small bit of a pepper is ample for a dinner dish.

There is a global cult of people who eat hot peppers as a hobby -- bite it, chew, swallow.  This is a terrible idea, but there are some interesting vids out there.  Here are a couple -- an objective report, and the redneck version of same.