Re: [CH] History

Jim Graham (spooky130@cox.net)
Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:16:19 -0500 

On Thu, Jun 19, 2008 at 11:44:25AM -0500, Sandy Olson wrote:

> It's fun to hear how people got hooked on the pod.

Ok, here's my story.  It started when I was a little kid (about
12 years old).  My mom worked at Brooke Army Medical Center at
Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, TX.  Anyways, every year, BAMC
had a big picnic, with BBQ, chili cookoffs, an endless supply of
Lone Star Beer, music and dancing for the adults, and big jars of
whole jalapenos.  I tried the jalapenos and decided they were good.

About that same time, we were going regularly to a Mexican place
in SA, and they had these enchiladas that had jalapenos inside, along
with sour cream.  I quickly out-grew the sour cream, and have refused
it in Mexican food ever since....

Skip forward a few years...I'm in HS, going to Spurs games with friends,
and while there, having a few beers, and of course, nachos with lots of
jalapenos.  For a long time, that's where I stayed, with the notable
exception of my curry and chili, both of which I made increasingly hot
over the years (I made the chili hot by using the ground chilli from my
curry spices).

NOTE:  The next three paragraphs overlap in terms of chronology....

Upon joining the local homebrew club, I was introduced to hotter peppers,
and I saw that they were good.  My taste for peppers, and my craving (and
tolerance) for the heat increased over the years to the point where I
could comfortably eat a whole habanero without any chaser for 5 minutes
(after seeing me cut up a whole hab and put it on a sandwich, someone at
a local bar bet me I couldn't...so I did).  It was a mutal bet---he had
to do the same.  Whoever failed would lose their $10.  Neither failed, or
even showed any signs of discomfort, and after 5 minutes, we each took
back our $10.

I started growing my own peppers somewhere around 1999--2000, I think.
This year's pepper garden is larger and more full than ever---partly
because I followed instructions and left a lot of space between the
pepper plants (never knew why it would matter before).  Much to my
surprise, when the plants would get pressed down by watering, rain,
wind, etc., they wouldn't straighten up like before, they'd just start
growing upward from every point along each branch, making the plants
grow in large leaps, and putting that many more peppers on each.  My
habanero section looks like a knee-high forest, as does my cayenne
section.  The rest is growing from seeds, and is playing catch-up.

Then I discovered Thai food (ca. 2000), and a newer definition of hot.
Then I went to the new (has now been open for about 6 months, if that)
Indian place, Bombay Masala, where the owner, one evening, made a comment
to me, referring to how we both like our vindaloo, that I'll never
forget:  "You and I are different from most...we are not happy unless
the cook is coughing."   Mmmmmm, lamb vindaloo with chilli naan...damn,
it's past 2PM, and they're not open again until 5, for dinner...guess
I'll have to wait.

So that's about where I'm at, and how I got there.

Later,
   --jim

-- 
73 DE N5IAL (/4)        | "This 'telephone' has too many
spooky130@cox.net       | shortcomings to be seriously considered
< Running FreeBSD 6.1 > | as a means of communication.  The device
ICBM / Hurricane:       | is inherently of no value to us."
   30.39735N 86.60439W  | (Western Union internal memo, 1876)