[CH] Cook-off chilis, heat
Alex Silbajoris (72163.1353@compuserve.com)
Fri, 14 May 1999 07:32:47 -0400
I didn't ask anyone for details about their recipes, I assumed they'd guard
their secrets.
The guy with the jerk chili was almost apologetic about the way his recipe
did not hit you with fire right away with the first spoonful. I told him
my favorite old observation - that it should tast hot on the last spoonful,
not the first.
I missed the main competitions, so I didn't see the whole scene. There
probably was some macho posturing about heat, which I don't have a lot of
interest in. It seems to me that if you make a show of manliness by eating
something you hate, you're not enjoying the heat - you make it an enemy
whom you take on for show. You take your pleasure in the conflict itself.
My condition is more like, um ... well, let's pull down the dictionary:
"ob-ses-sion Compulsive preoccupation with a fixed idea or unwanted
feeling, often accompanied by feelings of anxiety"
Hm. Not quite.
"psy-co-sis Severe mental disorder, with or without organic damage,
characterized by deterioration of normal intellectual and social
functioning, and by partial or complete withdrawal from reality"
Well, that sounds like me standing and fanning my mouth after a hot
bowlful.
"ma-ni-a An inordinately intense desire or enthusiasm: craze"
That's closer to the mark.
"ad-dict To devote or give (oneself) habitually or compulsively"
Hm, I think I'd better stop this before I go any further.
I guess the best way I could describe my attraction to heat is to say that
it is my destination ("the purpose for which something is created or
intended"). I swim in it.
Alex Silbajoris 72163.1353@compuserve.com
time for my medication