• If you can't find a "Hot" category that fits, post it here!

How did you become a chillihead?

oboesushi

oboesushi

I have been exposed to spicy food my whole life (being born and raised in Arizona) and have loved it.  I was first introduced to superhots on cutlerylover's youtube channel, when he referred to tedbarrus.  I was curious, checked out Ted's channel, and was soon enlightened at the variety of peppers in the world, as well as the massive underground (at least the roots anyway...) industry of chillis.
 
What's your story?
 
When I tried part of a dried ButchT and then did a hot wing challenge. I started consuming large amounts of capsaicin. After that, I knew I was hooked!
 
When I discovered habaneros in my mid 20s. Before then, a tabasco was the hottest I had ever tasted.
 
The 1st exposure that I can remember to hot food was when KFC in Australia 1st introduced the hot and spicy chicken when I was a kid. Absolutely loved it. Have loved hot food ever since, and grew 2 plants when I was in my early teens. Unsure of the variety, all we knew them as was birds eye chilli's. It wasn't until this year that I became a full blown chillihead though. After growing a cayenne,some jalapeno's and orange habs just to make sauce, and after finding this site, it's become an addiction. Eating some form of pepper (fresh,sauce or powder) at least once a day.
 
A little more than six years ago, I was bored on night and came across a YouTube video of Neil from the hippyseed company (http://thehippyseedcompany.com/) reviewing a hot pepper.  I thought that was cool and became instantly hooked.  I've always had a green thumb and enjoy growing things, so that spring, I sprouted some chile seeds and have been growing ever since.  I'm still building up my tolerance!
 
Way back when I was about 7 (1963!) my mom picked up a jar of Del Monte brand pickled yellow peppers.  WOW, I was hooked!!  After that I would always add a jar to the shopping basket.  The crazy part is I would eat an entire 12 oz jar in one sitting, usually hiding in the closet because if my mom found out she wouldn't let me.  Ever since I've been in search of hotter and better.
 
I learned early on about pepper hangovers and the "after burn".
 
I think I was around age 28 in the early 90's.   I was in a Chinese restauraunt eating "General Tso's chicken".  Something in that was very hot and it was like a bomb of enlightment went off in my head.  I think I made my first Cross Country Nursery order in the late 90's or early 2000's.   Most notably Fatalii and Lemon Drop were among those plants.
 
back in about 1992 i decided that it would be macho to grow some hot peppers so i bought a bag of red thai chiles from a chinese grocery store and planted a few 
while they where growing i decided to try a can of Chilpotle peppers and of corse they blew my head of but i could not get past how good they tasted
i tried a few of my thai peppers but was not fond of the taste compared to the amount of heat they had, i was still a newb and could not appreciate them yet :hot:
as the years progressed i ate more and more hot stuff and hotter and hotter until now
and now i just cant live without a bang in my food, so it behoved me to grow my own and because i always had a taste for the ones you cant just go to the store for i grow my own ;)
funny to i grew up in a PA DUTCH househild and we didnt eat hot peppers funny too cause the other half of my ancestory is Hungarian and we still didnt eat hot peppersmy dad and i had gardens but we grew sweet bells, i picked this habit up all on my own
yeah this is preaty how i became a chilihead
 
thanks your friend Joe
 
I was on a random video streak on Youtube and came across people pranking each other with hot peppers.
 
Somehow ended up on Tmudder's channel and was introduced into the chilihead culture, where we not only appreciate the heat of each pod but also the flavor and unique shapes, colors and varieties.
 
I then decided I needed to try some for myself, after that I was hooked!
 
When I was younger there was a Glory's Market that sold these xxx pretzels. They were habanero dusted hard pretzel nuggets. They were too hot for the rest of my family but I would eat them like candy
 
When I was about 5yrs old one of my dads friends lived with us and he used tabasco sauce on EVERYTHING. He finally stopped worrying about my mom after me bugging him to let me try it all the time. Opened up my mouth and he put like 5 splashes on my tongue. Boy I was burning! But I loved the taste of it. Been trying all different kinds of sauces and cooking with peppers since then. 
 
I've grown em off and on since I was a kid,  Thai Peppers where the first I ate at about 13,  Habs and Jals where all I grew until I bought some TS seeds online about 4 years ago now I have 30 or so varieties growing at any given time.  This Forum showed up during a search one day and I've been here ever since.
 
Horseradish as a kid.
"Chinese" hot mustard as a teen.
Tobasco on eggs and hash browns forever.
Poppers in my 20's.
That first taste of a Ghost however-------.
 
That's when I started searching for variety.
 
I grew up in a Family that did not eat spicy foods. My friends did though and in the seventies I was introduced to tobasco brand sauce, cayanne and jalapeño peppers, and a spicy little dude called a Grove pepper. I can take a lot of heat, but I'm a flavor then heat kind of guy.
 
I as well was raised in Arizona (phx) I was born in Austin Texas Ive lived in Arizona sence I was 2yrs old don't know exactly kinda I guess stumbled upon this Chile called the "ghost pepper" and found a YouTube video on it then the quest begins
I was to any and all grocery stores trying to find the pepper found some dry ones$3.79a .25oz? Crazy huh but I was so excited I paid it ate a piece of it blew my socks off and when I realizes there was other peppers out there I soon found out the ghost pepper had been dwarfed by the butch-t and the mourga the quest continued so so I was able to get AJ's fine foods to order fresh ghost pepper and in the mean time found this forum and was soon turned off by "the heat" of peppers now is NOT only about heat but VERYmuch so flavor as well.

Ah yah
Welcome from Phoenix,Az
 
A lot of beer when playing in my metal band, followed by trips to the gas station for burritos (GOTTA be Granditos...), and tons of hot sauce, somehow I ended up here at THP.
 
0001820015030_215X215.jpg
    +   
Beef_Bean_Spicy_Red_Hot_Burrito_62838.jpg
 +  
SWHOT.jpg

 
 
It all equals love.
 
Always liked a bit of spice as does my pa, as a young adult went to that owl themed restaurant (standard order 30/30 $0.10 3 mile wings and shrimp with a few gallons of watery beer).  I guess I was on that plane where enough Tabasco had me drooling and red in the face until I got some Dave's Ghost Chili sauce a couple of years ago (yes I know, extract) and used that for a while until one day I got frustrated at not getting that burn out of a few drops and poured it on - I think I broke my tongue that night.  At a restaurant recently I had some Mad Dog sauce (again with the extract - it's just cheating) which I found out later was a pretty hot sauce so I figured what the hell, I got the tolerance by accident I might as well be one of those macho masochistic chilie heads  :P and now I'm growing chilies.  
 
When i was a kid my mums at the time other half used to make what i thought to be an amazing chilli which was the start of the spice addiction. Then when ever we had indian takeaway id always try and up the ante from the previous order. But this year was the one where ive done my research and found a whole new chili world, have to love watching Teds reviews on youtube and also Nigels. I find it hard not to add spice to pretty much every dish i make these days.
 
Cool thread idea dude.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top