We’ve all seen it: You rent a vacation cottage and find a ‘curated’ wine rack prominently displayed on a sunny kitchen wall. The bottles are covered in a fine layer of dust, and the labels are from three or four years ago. The owners think they’re offering an aged luxury; a fine, 4-year-old bottle of … Read more
If you had tried to put beer in a tin can in 1933, you wouldn’t have ended up with a drink, you would have ended up with a bomb. While canned food had been a staple for a century, the first canned beer was delayed by a huge engineering problem. Beer presented a physical nightmare … Read more
In professional Chinese cookery, wok hei, traditionally translated as the “breath of the wok”, is revered as the defining characteristic of an exceptional stir-fry. It manifests as a distinct smoky, singed, and deeply complex aroma that is notoriously difficult to replicate in a home kitchen. While popular culinary literature frequently treats this quality as a … Read more
If you’ve ever accidentally inhaled a cloud of freshly cracked black pepper, you know it provides a sharp, stinging “heat” that can easily rival a mild chili. Because that initial sting is so intense, it is easy to assume that black pepper functions just like the spicy ingredients found in the hot sauce aisle. This … Read more
For ten years, the Carolina Reaper was the undisputed king of the hottest chili peppers in the world. However, the “pepper arms race” has reached a new peak. While Pepper X now officially wears the crown, there is also new information regarding the Dragon’s Breath, the pepper that once threatened to unseat the Reaper and … Read more
The Scoville Scale is the universal measurement used to determine the pungency and heat level of chili peppers. Developed by Wilbur Scoville in 1912, the scale assigns a Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) rating based on the concentration of capsaicinoids within the fruit. ⚡ Scoville Scale: Quick Summary The Scoville Scale is a specialized measurement used … Read more