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Chefs and super hots

Captain Caliente

Captain Caliente

I've noticed something about my dreams over the past few years. Increasingly, they are about hot peppers. Growing them, harvesting them, trying them with new dishes. I am so addicted to hot peppers that my wife and family think that I am insane. When I go to a Thai restaurant and order it "Thai hot" they always roll their eyes. Then I have to ask for the spicy tray to complete the "hot" that the chef did not add to the dish. It's not the same though. Every chile flavor should be cooked into the dish itself. I am convinced that most chefs have no idea how to cook with gourmet super hots. It is sad. Because there are so many chileheads now. Chefs have to start figuring this out.
 
 As a fire eating chef working in food service the past 30 some years I can tell you that roughly less than 1% of the people coming in asking for "thai hot" (or any other version of that question) TRULY want it that hot.  The dining room is (literally) littered with people who won't or can't finish dishes that I've made with supers.  
 
It's less about chefs being able to cook with supers and far more about the general public not knowing how fkn hot supers are.  CC you are the rare and wonderful bird - that one out of several hundred or a thousand who would be eager and grateful for me to add the 'real heat' to a dish on the menu.  Basically everyone else is like "please take this plate of pain from me and no I won't be bringing it home".
 
Rather than lament what they cannot do for you I'd invest in some nice super hot powder or fresh pods when available to add to your dishes when you go out - you'll be a lot more satisfied with the results.  ;)
 
 
 
Only way that would work is in a hot pepper-themed restaurant. Offer superhots at your local joints as your "hot" version and be prepared for horrible reviews for food you can't eat and lawsuits. "I asked for it hot and it burned my throat, I ended up in the ER, STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE!"
 
If you want to chef up some superhots, a themed joint is not a bad idea.
 
 
The Hot Pepper and SmokenFire are correct; the problem is, 95%+ of customers don't want shit to be hot at all, and 99% of the folks who swear they want it as hot as possible just don't actually know the upper limit of the heat that folks can generate on 2018. They THINK they want the"sauce," but they don't.

I have been eating supers for a bit. I love the burn, but relative to some of y'all, I'm still a lightweight. I know that, respect it, don't have a big head about anything... But i am still in a very elite class when it comes to North American diners. Most ppl who think they want something on a Super level do not even understand what they're getting themselves into.

Personally, I've learned to respect good Korean and Thai restaitanys. If they ask me for an order 1 thru 5, i get a "4" the first time, and typically move up to a "5" on subsequent visits. Other restaurants, if they offer a "1-5", I'm likely to request an "8". Bars here in NJ offer wings with stops names like "burn your ass" and such; most of them taste like shir, but arent even hot. I think that's where these ppl get these bigheads from. They are able to destroy the hottest buff wings at the local pub, so they mistakenly believe that they're ready for the bigtime.
 
I am a dreamer. One of my dreams is a super hot themed restaurant. One pepper, two peppers, three peppers heat. One of the skills that I've focused on over the past several years is how to cook a flavorful dish with super hots. It can be done. I've cooked for countless people with gourmet super hots. And they have loved every single last bite. I'm a moron. What could a skilled chef do if they put their mind to it? There are heat shields that will break down the harshness of any pepper. It's all about fats and sugars. The balance exists. There are how many members of this forum? Look at all of the unsatisfied people that are going out to eat. It is hard for me to imagine that only 1 or 3 percent of the population would eat deliciously prepared spicy meals.
 
About Thai restaurants...or any restaurant. What most of these places do is is prepare a basic sauce. So, if you want a spicy dish they just take the prepared sauce and add some chile flakes or powder. That is not the same as a freshly prepared meal with chiles. It is so far from real. As chileheads, we have to get back to the basics. Fresh food, fresh chiles in the food. I love chile flakes and powder. But as many meals as I've made with fresh chiles...do we really need chile powder? Maybe on long journeys across snow and sea. But in real life? It makes no sense. Fresh chiles every single day.
 
Smokin' Hot - Dude, I love the fact that you have this perception. I wish you could cook for me. But like The Hot Pepper pointed out, the restaurant has to be a hot themed place. Where people expect the heat. Though it is still difficult for my logical mind to understand how people would not want heat in the first place. Heathens.
 
Many years ago some Aussie posted how he came to the USA with friends and they were so excited so see a chili pepper themed restaurant as they drove down the highway, they couldn't believe it! Nothing like this existed in their country. It was Chili's! They could not find one spicy thing on the menu and did not understand the name. :lol: Unfortunately that is the mainstream, and that damn chili pepper logo makes money even though they don't serve spicy food. :rofl:
 
If you are marinading with a powder it certainly works. If you are cooking fresh food, chile powder is never as good as a fresh chile. Gordon Ramsay would agree with me. Im good with that.
 
IMG_7365.JPG


Wife and kids got me this book, a year or two ago, for Father's Day ;)
 
Captain Caliente said:
I love powders. Dont mistake. I am saying the original fresh Chile is better than a powder. How can a sane person argue with that?
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Captain Caliente said:
If you are marinading with a powder it certainly works. If you are cooking fresh food, chile powder is never as good as a fresh chile. Gordon Ramsay would agree with me. Im good with that.
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Ugh. Gordon Ramsay.

Sometimes, it's not a question of what's as good, better, worse, et cetera. With powders, flakes, dry pods, etc? It's more of a "horses for courses" kind of thing. I use dried Guajillos all the time. I grew them fresh. They are kinda tasty right of the plant. But, they don't get that distinctive tobacco flavor and aroma until they're dried. That character remains in powder form. If i were to sub fresh Guajillo pods for the powder in most recipes, the results would suffer. The same can be said for Ancho/Poblanos, de Arbols, Puyas, etc. And in other recipes, the reverse is true.

And don't even get me started on Chipotles and other smoked pods, or the powder derived from them.... You want to use a fresh Jalapeño in a recipe that calls for Moritas?

In short, i love fresh pods. They're the best!-- except when they aren't. I could make a pot of chili with all fresh pods, but i have my best results with chili using some fresh pods and a bunch of various powders. That's just one common example.

sinensis said:
the flavor is different. even if i had unlimited 365-day access to super fresh peppers, i'd still want powder for some things. and also sauces.
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Exactly....
 
Y'all make good points. Powders do go better in certain items of food than fresh chiles. But not generally speaking. I stand corrected. However, I was on a specific mindset. Powder works, but does not go as well in Thai food than a fresh chile pepper. And my point was that chefs should know how to cook with chiles. Particularly in a restaurant that has the phrase "Thai hot". It makes me feel like the Thais are just lying to the world. Thai hot is not a thing at all. I've only been to Phuket. And only for a day. So I haven't been able to tour around the country to see if they are lying to us or not?
 
Captain Caliente said:
Y'all make good points. Powders do go better in certain items of food than fresh chiles. But not generally speaking. I stand corrected. However, I was on a specific mindset. Powder works, but does not go as well in Thai food than a fresh chile pepper. And my point was that chef's should know how to cook with chiles. Particularly in a restaurant that has the phrase "Thai hot". It makes me feel like the Thai's are just lying to the world. Thai hot is not a thing at all. I've only been to Phuket. And only for a day. So I haven't been able to tour around the country to see if they are lying to us or not?
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They are not lying. I am Indian and am pretty immune to most non-superhot peppers. Thai Hot is definitely noticeable hot but I have eaten spicier meals. I personally vacationed to Thailand when I was 8. The food there is extremely spicy.
 
Especially since thai peppers arent really that hot at all. Still doesnt stop me from growing them though.I need to make a count but I have several one gallon bag fulls in the deep freeze for my sweet thai sauce. Some are smoked over plum wood others just plain.
 
D3monic said:
Especially since thai peppers arent really that hot at all. Still doesnt stop me from growing them though.I need to make a count but I have several one gallon bag fulls in the deep freeze for my sweet thai sauce. Some are smoked over plum wood others just plain.
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I adore Thai peppers. They have some grit.
 
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