"" There are several different types of people who are attracted to eating super-hot peppers. mikroman6/Getty Images You may have seen one of those crazed contests on YouTube or at a fair where people "compete" to eat as many hot peppers as possible. For instance, in May 2017, a competitive eater who goes by the name LA Beast set a Guinness World Record for eating the most ghost peppers in two minutes — 13. Ghost peppers, for those of you that don't know, are some of the hottest in the world and rate 1 million per pepper on the Scoville heat scale (a scientific measure of how hot a pepper is). To put things in perspective, that's at least 100 times hotter than a jalapeño, which ranks anywhere between about 2,500 and 8,000 Scoville units. But ghost peppers aren't even the hottest. That honor officially belongs to the Carolina Reaper, which earned its title as the hottest pepper in the world — beating out a pepper called the Trinidad Scorpion — in 2013. … [Read more...] about Is the Carolina Reaper the World’s Hottest Pepper?
North carolina reaper pepper
Capicola: The Italian Dried Meat Tony Soprano Called ‘Gabagool’
"" Capicola, or capocollo, is an Italian cold cut traditionally made from the cured muscle of the neck and shoulder of the pig. Owen Franken/Getty Images Some of the most popular foods in the U.S. today come from Italy. Think pasta, mozzarella and gelato. The boot-shaped European country is also well-known for its cured meats. But while many Americans are familiar with Italy's prosciutto and pancetta, both of which come from pigs, fewer know much about capicola, another pork product. Capicola – which is also referred to as capocollo and coppa – is made from pork shoulder. Specifically, the area between the pig's neck and its fourth or fifth rib. The meat in this part of the pig is 30 percent fat and 70 percent lean, a fat ratio that ensures the meat will remain moist and tender after drying. The most prized capicola comes from pigs that are at least eight months old, weigh a minimum of 300 pounds (136 kilograms) and were raised in southern Italy, considered the … [Read more...] about Capicola: The Italian Dried Meat Tony Soprano Called ‘Gabagool’