Re: [CH] St. Louis => Lamb Vindaloo & CH Qualification Levels
Porter Banister (porter9@concentric.net)
Sun, 14 Feb 1999 00:00:07 -0500
Andy Barnhart Wrote:
>1) "authentic Goan vindaloo": Well ..., if I'm missing out on a new
dimension
> of culinary and chile experience, I certainly want to rectify that ASAP.
Goan refers to the Southwest region of India once colonized by Portugal.
Vinegar was made popular by the Portugese in India, and vinegar is a key
ingredient in "vin"daloo.
>St. Louis is just a bit far to go for me just for a meal (good though it
may
>be). So, what is the closest place to Washington, DC where I might try:
> " authentic Goan vindaloo" ?
Haven't been to DC in quite some time, can't help you there. If you can get
to NYC, I can vouch for the vindaloo at Gaylord on 1st Ave and 6th St. And
if a little hole in the wall called Shagorika on 2nd Ave and 6th St. is
still there, they are not shy about kicking up the heat level to what a
South Indian denizen may appreciate. (Gaylord requires a bit more coaxing,
but they will listen).
>2) To Porter, et.al.:
>
>What do you consider "real CH level"?
I agree with Dave Drum when he answered:
"Can't be did. Everyone's mileage varies. Being a chile head isn't
about heat levels and tolerance of pain. It's about love of chiles...
which is not necessarily the same thing."
However, Andy, in your original post you mentioned that you got the staff at
the St.Louis establishment to kick up the heat to double strength after they
made a point of warning you about single strength. You then said that you
added some smoked hab powder to a take-home quart of the stuff a couple days
later in order to bring it up to "real CH levels". My response was intended
to defend the honor, if you will, of the CH levels in a vindaloo of
authentic South Indian strength. How can I agree with Dave Drum on the one
hand, and also concede that there is such a thing (nebulous though it may
be) as "real Chilehead levels"? If we accept that there is a sliding scale,
and no hard and fast parameters, then I think the two are not really
mutually exclusive. In my own case, I am eating a CH level dish if there is
sweat building up at the top of my head, and various places inside my mouth
experience what we all refer to as 'the burn'. That is my own personal
minimum criteria, and this is so inexact a science, that on different days
it may take different levels of heat to accomplish the above. I can stand it
quite hot, but I cannot pour Dave's Insanity Sauce directly on my food.
Burnt cat taste quite aside, it's just too dang hot for me to do so. I can,
however, tolerate a small amount of it on a chip, maybe a hit the size of a
dime. I have never encountered a Szechuan meal I couldn't wolf down as fast
as if it contained no heat. Not so with Thai - there, when ordered 'Thai
Hot', I begin to slow down after I am about halfway finished, and find
myself having to increase the amounts of white rice between bites of the
incendiary morsels.
As for:
>
> 1) Sprinkle hab dust on chicken salad?
> 2) Uses several drops of Pure Cap in most soups?
> 3) Loves "Lizard's Eyes"?
> 3) Directly samples hot powders for potency, including Blair's
Death
I have done all of the above except for Lizard's Eyes which I do not own
(It's a brand of Hot Sauce - right?) I would concurr that #1 #2 and the
second #3 *hehe* all constitute reaching real CH levels for me personally.
Though all our mileages may indeed vary, there is a huge amount of
difference between the heat levels that those of us who love eating chiles
can tolerate, and the levels that the non chilehead public can tolerate.
While there may not be rules, there are minimum understandings we can go by.
Porter