CHILE KNIGHTS explores chile's charming riddle - why pain feels so good, chile adventures, happenings and news, chile folk remedies, chile novelty shops and web sites, chile books, and chile recipes. (Sunny won't recommend a recipe unless she's prepared it herself.) She will also introduce Southwest chile farmers and other aspects of the chile trade. Sunny welcomes readers' input - all manner of chile lore, chile first impressions, chile stories and anecdotes, and unusual recipes and chile merchandise in the Southwest. Contact Sunny at the address and phone number below if you have comments, questions, story ideas or a chile close encounter you'd like to share.
ANYTHING BUT SALSA PLEASE - Last week I made my bi-annual visit to the dentist and was promptly escorted to The Chair. Several minutes before the scheduled appointment, my friendly dentist wandered in and pulled up a stool next to me. Touching my arm lightly, he said, "I have a little boy in the next room who has an abscess. In a couple of minutes you may hear him yelp a little. I'm sorry, but I just wanted to forewarn you. I hope it doesn't cause you any distress." Surprised, I blurted out something stupid like, "Better him than me." I didn't really mean that. Well, yes I did. No, not really. I felt sorry for the kid. Sure I was glad it wasn't me but I wasn't thrilled for him either. The dentist departed. I was left on my own. The entire building seemed suddenly quiet. The seconds crawled by. Then I heard the wail. But it wasn't as loud or piercing as I had expected, but earnest nevertheless. The kid sobbed perhaps for a minute while his mom and the dentist consoled him. It was over. Or so I thought. A few minutes later, the dentist, escorting Mom and son to the outer office, said, "He can eat most anything today except salsa." "But WHY can't I have salsa?," the boy demanded. "Because it'll make your sore sting," said Mom gently. "But I WANT salsa," he howled in protest, indicating a far deeper state of anguish than he had experienced moments earlier in The Chair.
AHHH, THE PAIN OF IT ALL - All Chileheads, including myself, acknowledge that the celebrated pod is highly addictive. But do we know why? Reader Kumie Wise e-mailed one theory: "A former professor of mine, Dr. Frank Etscorn of New Mexico Tech in Socorro, and inventor of the nicotine patch, investigated the addictive effects of chile a couple of years ago. He found that chile does have an addictive effect. Namely, when you eat chile, endorphins are released (those chemicals that are released when you exercise that help reduce pain). The more chile you eat, the more endorphins are released. Athletes will tell you that endorphins are, indeed, addictive. So, good hot chile releases endorphins that make you feel good and are addictive." Hmmm, so the more pain I get from a sizzlin' hot chile, the more I covet pain, but the less pain I'll actually experience?
CHILE IS OUT OF THIS WORLD - Las Crucen author David L. Summers takes sci-fi fans on an exciting voyage to a new frontier in his just released novel, "The Pirates of Sufiro." But Summers, a self-proclaimed chile devotee, is unwilling to leave the pod behind. Pages 209-110 are devoted to the effects that chile has on a cosmic chile novice. Sweating profusely from the brow after one chile bite, the character exclaims, "This ain't half bad once you get used to the heat!"
BISHOP FANCIES ENRIQUE'S SALSA - "I've been here six months and have a serious addiction [to chile] in the works," e-mailed former Bostonian Mary Bishop. Just how hot is Bishop's addiction? "Try the salsa at Enrique's, a storefront cafe on the right of Picacho just after you cross the tracks going east. That's about as hot as I go. It's the best around. Whew!"
After living in the Three Crosses for nearly a decade, I confess to never having heard of Enrique's. Sure enough, set back off Picacho on the corner of Second, is Enrique's, a small, clean diner that's been open, I learn, for three years. I asked for salsa to go (16 ounces for 2 bucks). Eager to sample the chunky, colorful cilantro-vitalized mix, I hauled out a bag of tortilla chips when I arrived home. Suddenly remembering I was on my annual New Years Resolution Calorie Count Diet, I reluctantly returned the chips to the pantry and settled for a "nuked" spaghetti squash. Spaghetti squash, whose pulp takes on the appearance of spaghetti when raked with a fork, becomes a delicious, low calorie "pasta" dish when slathered with salsa, especially when laden with Enrique's eye-moistening version.
YOUNGSTERS ADVANCE TO FIERY FINALS - E-mails George Paz: "Of my 27 grandchildren, three - ages 7 to 10 - are accomplished chile eaters having advanced from jalapenos, cayenne, tepin to habaneros."
