# Spicy booby trap at a pot-luck? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 9, 2010, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-booby-trap-at-a-pot-luck/553205 "2010-09-09T18:23:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-booby-trap-at-a-pot-luck/553205/21 "2010-09-09T20:45:51Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > It’s really quaint that you think black pepper (in the quantity of 2 TBSP/GAL) can contribute to making something “spicy” and 2 TBSP of crushed red papper flakes gives something “kick.” Are you English, by chance? The English, in my experience, actually have a pretty decent spice tolerance. It varies wildly (just like it does in the US), but remember this is the land of phalls and tindaloos, for those folks for whom vindaloo isn’t spicy enough. I don’t think the spice level tolerances are really much different between the UK and the US. In fact, the spiciest Indian/Pakistani food I’ve ever had was in Wolverhampton, England. ---
**Author:** ![HenryGale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b782af/32.png) [@HenryGale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HenryGale)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-booby-trap-at-a-pot-luck/553205/22 "2010-09-09T21:44:02Z")
It took about a quadruple-take for me to realize the thread title isn’t referring to the name of a dish. Too bad, I’d love some of the spicy booby trap. (Let 'em eat “STFU”, says I.) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-booby-trap-at-a-pot-luck/553205/23 "2010-09-09T22:49:37Z")
> [@](#): > > Every single time I read this thread title I get a mental image of a woman leaning over a buffet table and accidentally triggering stream of hot sauce pouring itself all over her chest. [I could see that](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0098.html) ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Why](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/96bed5/32.png) [@Doctor\_Why](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Why)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-booby-trap-at-a-pot-luck/553205/24 "2010-09-10T03:21:55Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > It’s really quaint that you think black pepper (in the quantity of 2 TBSP/GAL) can contribute to making something “spicy” and 2 TBSP of crushed red papper flakes gives something “kick.” Are you English, by chance? I have a very low tolerance for capsaicin; Somedays I can’t stand anything hotter than a bell pepper. I know several people who snack on jalapenos and other spicy peppers. Quite a few of these people think my homemade cocktail sauce is too hot. There’s no accounting for taste. Which makes me think you should add a dab of horseradish to your hot sauce. That might be the kick in the pants these not-hot-enough people need. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-booby-trap-at-a-pot-luck/553205/25 "2010-09-10T03:35:53Z")
[Fuck 'em](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tRq8ExAHzk) ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-booby-trap-at-a-pot-luck/553205/26 "2010-09-10T17:09:42Z")
> [@Alpha\_Twit](#): > > We often have pot-luck meals at work and one of my favorite things to bring is a crock pot of thin sliced, roasted pork loin covered in my homemade BBQ sauce. This has generally gone over quite nicely and I’ve never brought home leftovers. One complaint I’ve had about it though comes from the chile-heads who complain that it needs more spice. There’s some heat in my BBQ sauce but not a lot. Just two tablespoons each of black peppercorns (crushed) and red pepper flakes in just over a gallon of sauce so it has a bit of a kick but nothing overwhelming. > > I’ve gotten tired of their whining though and I’ve decided to strike back. I’ll make the pork and sauce it as usual but on the side I’ll put a bottle of my special “shut-up” sauce that people can use or not as they choose. This sauce has a very simple recipe, one small can of chipotle peppers plus enough cider vinegar to equal one quart, blended until smooth and poured into a squirt bottle. Used carefully, this sauce adds a very nice smoky, earthy heat. Used recklessly…, most people only do that once. > > I love this hot pepper sauce but it is rather pungently flavored. I also love seeing asshats blowing off the tops of their heads when they say keep demanding spicier dishes. > > Is leaving this trap at a pot-luck and evil act? How, if at all, would you label the bottle? Put a picture of a flaming sphincter on it. I have had the same reaction from chiliheads with my salsa. So I got some dried bhut joloki peppers and added them to the mix. They don’t say much anymore. Well, maybe they curse my name as the jupiter-sized ball of flame comes shooting out their arses a few hours later…muahahahahahaha ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-booby-trap-at-a-pot-luck/553205/27 "2010-09-10T18:30:55Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > The English, in my experience, actually have a pretty decent spice tolerance. It varies wildly (just like it does in the US), but remember this is the land of phalls and tindaloos, for those folks for whom vindaloo isn’t spicy enough. I don’t think the spice level tolerances are really much different between the UK and the US. In fact, the spiciest Indian/Pakistani food I’ve ever had was in Wolverhampton, England. That was a bit of a poke - I could have said “are you from Minnesota” or whatever but England sounded pithy in the moment. I mean, anyone thinking that 2 TBSP of crushed red pepper flakes in a gallon of sauce gives “kick” is used to some seriously bland food. I just think it’s funny the OP thinks he’s going to slay the spicy-likers with chipotle pepper, considered by most spicy-likers to be, essentially, only slightly spicier than a bell pepper. He’s like, in the wrong order of magnitude entirely. _They say it isn’t spicy! I’ll show them! I’ll put in diabolical music **a dash of Tabasco sauce!!!** _. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-booby-trap-at-a-pot-luck/553205/28 "2010-09-10T18:43:20Z")
**Chief Wiggum** : _Afternoon, Homer. Care for some chili? I’ve added an extra ingredient just for you. The merciless peppers of **Quetzlzacatenango**! Grown deep in the jungle primeval by the **inmates of a Guatemalan insane asylum**._ ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-booby-trap-at-a-pot-luck/553205/29 "2010-09-10T18:44:24Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > That was a bit of a poke - I could have said “are you from Minnesota” or whatever but England sounded pithy in the moment. I mean, anyone thinking that 2 TBSP of crushed red pepper flakes in a gallon of sauce gives “kick” is used to some seriously bland food. > > I just think it’s funny the OP thinks he’s going to slay the spicy-likers with chipotle pepper, considered by most spicy-likers to be, essentially, only slightly spicier than a bell pepper. He’s like, in the wrong order of magnitude entirely. _They say it isn’t spicy! I’ll show them! I’ll put in diabolical music **a dash of Tabasco sauce!!!** _. Ah, sorry, missed the joke. I think I would have gotten it with the Minnesota substitution. 🙂 But, yeah, I totally understand the Tabasco comment. It’s pretty much just flavored vinegar to me–only a vague sensation of heat in it. And it’s not a matter of machismo or anything. It’s just that once you get into spicy foods, you develop a tolerance and you stop tasting the heat unless you get a higher and higher dose. For me, spicy is eating a whole habanero or two. But I do remember the days when a single whole jalapeno would cause me unbearable pain for about ten minutes, and I had to keep ice cubes in my mouth to numb the sensation. ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-booby-trap-at-a-pot-luck/553205/30 "2010-09-10T21:49:44Z")
> [@Doctor\_Why](#): > > I know several people who snack on jalapenos and other spicy peppers. Quite a few of these people think my homemade cocktail sauce is too hot. There’s no accounting for taste. > > Which makes me think you should add a dab of horseradish to your hot sauce. That might be the kick in the pants these not-hot-enough people need. I agree with this. Many folks I know who slather habanero sauce on food really have issues with horseradish. It’s a completely different heat and spice flavor. Although, it will alter the flavor, not just add heat. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-booby-trap-at-a-pot-luck/553205/31 "2010-09-10T21:54:07Z")
> [@evilbeth](#): > > > [@Doctor\_Why](#): > > > > I know several people who snack on jalapenos and other spicy peppers. Quite a few of these people think my homemade cocktail sauce is too hot. There’s no accounting for taste. > > > > Which makes me think you should add a dab of horseradish to your hot sauce. That might be the kick in the pants these not-hot-enough people need. > > I agree with this. Many folks I know who slather habanero sauce on food really have issues with horseradish. It’s a completely different heat and spice flavor. Although, it will alter the flavor, not just add heat. I love spicy stuff. I hate horseradish. Not because it’s too spicy, but because _it tastes bad_. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-booby-trap-at-a-pot-luck/553205/32 "2010-09-10T22:06:41Z")
Horseradish is yummy! I love the stuff. My “Devil’s Own Deviled Eggs” are stuffed with baby shrimp mixed with grated horseradish. Now those will clear your sinuses! ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Why](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/96bed5/32.png) [@Doctor\_Why](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Why)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-booby-trap-at-a-pot-luck/553205/33 "2010-09-10T22:11:33Z")
> [@evilbeth](#): > > Although, it will alter the flavor, not just add heat. True, but if they’re adding a sauce to the dish after serving, I don’t think they’re so concerned about preserving the flavor that a little horseradish will bother them. Unless they’re like **Kyla**. It’s not something to slather about all willy-nilly, however. **Silenus** , I’m not a fan of shrimp, but I’d like your recipe. Those sound interesting. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-booby-trap-at-a-pot-luck/553205/34 "2010-09-10T22:22:25Z")
> [@evilbeth](#): > > > [@Doctor\_Why](#): > > > > I know several people who snack on jalapenos and other spicy peppers. Quite a few of these people think my homemade cocktail sauce is too hot. There’s no accounting for taste. > > > > Which makes me think you should add a dab of horseradish to your hot sauce. That might be the kick in the pants these not-hot-enough people need. > > I agree with this. Many folks I know who slather habanero sauce on food really have issues with horseradish. It’s a completely different heat and spice flavor. Although, it will alter the flavor, not just add heat. Yeah, horseradish/mustard/wasabi spice are completely different from capsaicin spice. It’s not a “burning the tongue” spice, but rather an “irritating the nose/lungs” spice. I wish there was a different name for these two different types of “heat,” because I don’t find them comparable at all. I can literally eat an entire jar of horseradish (not sauce, but pure grated horseradish) without any problem. It’s a very temporary irritation and dissipates very quickly. Like within seconds. And if you don’t breathe incorrectly when eating it, you miss much of the punch, anyway. I could not say the same thing for a jar of habanero peppers. The heat from a single habanero will linger for ten minutes or so. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-booby-trap-at-a-pot-luck/553205/35 "2010-09-10T23:00:43Z")
I’m pretty sure I know just the canned peppers in adobe you mean, and it’ll be hot enough, with a good flavor. I take a can of that, blend it to a paste, and coat pork with it overnight. Makes a very yummy spiced pork. And I agree that habeneros typically taste better, to me, than jalepenos. Just a lot more TO them, somehow. More flavor. And, to me, not necessarily any hotter. But I prefer smokey heat to vinegary heat anyday. I actually don’t really like vinegary sauces. I want flavor, not taste-bud-stabbing. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-booby-trap-at-a-pot-luck/553205/36 "2010-09-10T23:03:17Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Not evil at all. Label the bottle “STFU” and let them slather it on. > (Odds are at least one of them, like me, will say “Better, but still not hot enough.” > > Unless you are breaking out the habaneros, you aren’t even approaching true heat. I eat chipotles out of the can. 😃 Label it Slather This For Ultra-Heat! ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-booby-trap-at-a-pot-luck/553205/37 "2010-09-10T23:11:14Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > > [@silenus](#): > > > > Not evil at all. Label the bottle “STFU” and let them slather it on. > > Label it > > Slather > This > For > Ultra-Heat! FTW! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-booby-trap-at-a-pot-luck/553205/38 "2010-09-10T23:12:27Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > And I agree that habeneros typically taste better, to me, than jalepenos. Just a lot more TO them, somehow. More flavor. And, to me, not necessarily any hotter. But I prefer smokey heat to vinegary heat anyday. I actually don’t really like vinegary sauces. I want flavor, not taste-bud-stabbing. Habaneros are–ounce for ounce–a shitload hotter than jalapenos. There’s no comparison. But, as you note, they have a very different flavor from jalapenos or serranos or any of those types of peppers. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-booby-trap-at-a-pot-luck/553205/39 "2010-09-10T23:47:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Habaneros are–ounce for ounce–a shitload hotter than jalapenos. About a hundred times hotter, more specifically. So far as I know, there are at least four completely different kinds of “spicy heat”: Capsaicin (found in fruit-peppers), mustard oil (found in mustard, horseradish, wasabi, etc.), piperine (found in black pepper), and cinnamaldehyde (in cinnamon oil). I’ve often wondered about the possibility of a hot sauce containing equal parts (by Scoville rating) of all four (and yes, I know that the Scoville scale traditionally applies only to capsaicin, but it’s easy enough to generalize). It seems to me that a combination of different kinds of spicy-heat might produce a synergistic whole that’s greater than the sum of its parts. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-booby-trap-at-a-pot-luck/553205/40 "2010-09-10T23:50:31Z")
Habenero sauces may be hotter than jalepeno ones, but the ones I’ve experienced so far are more complex, and so, to me, seem not as ‘hot’ as they probably are. I’m sure it varies according to sauce, as well. I no longer care for Tabasco sauce; it just tastes too vinegary and pointy. This neon-green habenero sauce I get is nice and round and yum. Edit: I picked up a little bag of about 3 dozen fresh small, green serranos today. Any suggestions on what to do with them? They smell good, and I got them just for that. I have a whole weekend to play with them 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-booby-trap-at-a-pot-luck/553205.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spicy-booby-trap-at-a-pot-luck/553205.md?page=3)