[Sca-cooks] Hot Peppers

[El Hermoso Dormido]

Okay, that's it, the Mad-Food-Scientist-In-Training in me can no longer
be contained :-)

So far, I know of 3 completely different, specific types of chemicals that
make food "hot"/spicy.

Peppers get their heat from Capsaicin.  This is a fat/oil soluble compound
that results in a "dull" burning heat.  Milk/Yoghurt products seem to be good
for dealing with the heat.  I keep thinking I could make a hardcore "hot-ener"
by mashing up and soaking habenero peppers in clarified butter (into which the
capsaicin ought to dissolve...) (or, say, olive oil, but I tend to prefer
butter for its flavor...)  You can also get this stuff as a topical
counter-irritant at pharmacies, too ("Zostrix", as I recall, is the brand
name).

Mustard/Radish (and, I'm pretty sure but haven't been able to confirm, Ginger)
get their heat from a class of sulfur-containing compounds called
"isothiocyanates".  This produces a much "sharper" but less long-lasting
heat than capsaicin.

Cinnamon/Cassia, I believe, get their "heat" from phenolic
compounds (Eugenol, the distinctive "clove oil" chemical, is also a
constituent of cinnamon/cassia oil, as I recall).  These are the chemicals
that leave a sort of minty/menthol "cooling" feel along with the "burn".  As a
side note, phenolic compounds are often antiseptic - "Carbolic acid" (phenol)
was the antiseptic that the famous Dr. Lister used to cut the risk of
infection during surgery.  I DO know that the one time I tried to brew
something with cloves in it that neither yeast NOR bacteria seemed willing
to grow in it...

Methyl Salicylate (wintergreen/Birch flavor/scent) isn't quite the same sort
of chemical, as I recall, but is somewhat similar.

At any rate, given that true cinnamon and cassia are closely-related plants,
I'd be surprised if the "heat" components of their oils were substantially
different...

signed,
El Hermoso Dormido, wondering if he should be frightened that he didn't have
to look up the spelling of ANY of that...

On Tuesday 22 April 2003 11:06 am, Phil Troy/ G. Tacitus Adamantius wrote:
> Also sprach <jenne at fiedlerfamily.net>:
> >However, both cassia and cinnamon bark essential oils can burn the skin,
> >let alone mucus membranes.
>
> So can, I suspect, oleoresin of paprika (now there's an oddity: I
> assume it's a capsicum derivative, but it tastes to me like anise,
> and is used as an artificial "chili" flavoring in things like
> low-quality pepperoni). However, the inherent heat of essential oils
> doesn't necessarily reflect the inherent heat of their source used as
> a spice. IOW, the fact that essential oil of cinnamon can burn skin
> (and I think we need to define "burn", too; some authorities claim
> that what chilis do to skin is not, strictly speaking, caustic, let
> alone incendiary) doesn't mean it qualifies as a "hot" spice. How
> much would you have to use before it produced the effect of the
> essential oil in quantity? (Rhetorical question...)