The mucho mucho caliente picante: the tasting of the chocolate javanero

“These are the second hottest pepper in the world”, the farmer said as he handed me a pint size container of Chocolate Javaneros (pronounced ha-ben-air-os).

Wow was all I could think of as I took them from him and placed them in the walk-in refrigerator at the restaurant. The second hottest pepper in the world.

The mucho mucho caliente picantes, as Sandra like to call them, were one inch by one inch with thin green stems. The javanero is one of the spiciest chili peppers in the world. Most of them hail from the Amazon basin in South America but today most are grown in Mexico and Belize with some grown in U.S. regions like Texas, Idaho, California, and in my case, Virginia.

My “wow-ness” with the fact that it was the second hottest pepper in the world made me so curious that I borrowed one from the pint that was delivered. I had to try it.

I brought it home and sliced it open. There were a lot less seeds inside compared to that of a Bell pepper. Armed with milk (as it helps to sooth burning hot feelings in the mouth) and some chocolate raisins for chasers, my roommate (who is from Arizona and knows a few things about hot peppers) and I were arm and arm as we placed a pinch of the pepper in our mouth. Immediately we were not fazed but at the 30-second mark an intense burning occurs on your tongue, lips, and surrounding mouth. So much that you begin to have numb lips. I reached for the milk and waved my hand around in a fan like motion toward my mouth. I am sure I looked ridiculous. My roommate had a tear drop from her left eye and we both winced. Then we grabbed some blue jell-o but that didn’t work too well.

The hot, intense, it wont leave my mouth feeling, lingered for about two hours. We washed our hands 4 times but that proved to be insufficient. If you ever handle these peppers be sure to have milk and gloves around for a quick recovery.

As for those who have confirmed the hottest pepper in the world, the naga jolokia, I’ll just take their word for it.