06.09 - Wiri Wiri Wir(d) Tomato

My coworker was kind enough to offer me her tupperware of food for lunch yesterday because she had a craving for some greasy American food and wanted to go out and buy something instead. She had cooked fettuccine and chicken together in some Guyanese spices, and on the side was a single cherry tomato. She and I generally have the same taste, so I knew I would enjoy this.

I ate the pasta and chicken quickly-- and when I was almost near the end, I happily popped the cherry tomato in my mouth. As I bit down, I was horrified to discover that this tomato was unlike any other tomato I've ever tried. It filled my mouth with FIRE.

I spit it out immediately and quickly made eye contact with my generous coworker. "What is this?" I yelled out weakly. She looked at me with horror and realized what was going on. "I forgot!" she said, "I forgot to tell you that I put a pepper in there!" By this time, my eyes were watering like crazy and I felt like I couldn't breathe (partly from panic, partly from the heat). I knew I shouldn't drink water and I had hardly any food left in sight, so I didn't know what to do. She said, "Suck on some sugar! It will cut the heat!" I immediately found a few packets of raw sugar in my drawer and started pouring those crystals into my mouth as fast as I possibly could. Between the packets of sugar, I drank ice water which was a wonderful albeit temporary solution-- but finally, after a little while, the pain slowly began to subside.

I later learned that the cherry tomato in the tupperware was actually a wiri wiri pepper, a pepper widely used in Guyanese cooking that is also called a cherry pepper. That harmless looking little pepper is deceptively hot and actually has about 150,000 Scoville heat units (SHU). SHU indicates the amount of capsaicin (heat) in peppers. I read all about the SHU in different peppers yesterday, and found that the wiri wiri is up there with the best of them. Never again will I assume . . .

06.02 - Magic Vending Machine?

I had a mid-afternoon craving for Cheetos, so I decided to go down to the breakroom and get a bag from the vending machine. I brought a dollar with me and was delighted to find that it would cost only 80 cents.

I put the dollar in and typed in the corresponding numbers for that beloved orange bag. I watched the spiral move the bag to the front and . . . nothing. The top of the bag was stuck. I shoved the vending machine in slight frustration and, suddenly, the spirals moved a second bag to the front . . . but only to get the top of that one stuck on the top of the first bag. Once again, I shoved the machine in greater frustration. And, surprisingly again, the spiral moved a third bag to the front . . . only to get this one stuck with the other two. I shoved the machine again, but this time nothing happened, and the machine beeped to remind me that I still had a dollar in the machine.

I typed in the corresponding numbers yet again only to get this message: MAKE ANOTHER SELECTION. I was indignant. No way was I going to make another selection! I wanted my Cheetos! I tried again. Same message. And again. Same message. Finally I decided to just eject my money-- only to have the machine give me four quarters and an extra 20 cents. I figured that was a nice way to make up for my difficulty and decided to try one last time. I put the coins in, typed in the numbers, and unfortunately got the same message. Fed up, I ejected my money, looked one last time at the tempting row of Cheetos, gave the machine one last shove . . . and out came all three bags.

I'm not quite sure what to make of all that . . . but I'm about to finish the second bag now.