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From: ellen@ucla-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.cooks
Subject: How hot is HOT?
Message-ID: <569@ucla-cs.ARPA>
Date: Thu, 26-Jul-84 14:16:08 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucla-cs.569
Posted: Thu Jul 26 14:16:08 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 28-Jul-84 21:40:21 EDT
Organization: UCLA CS Dept.
Lines: 21

I know from living in Indonesia, that the food varies from quite mild and
sweet (yes, the Javanese put palm sugar into almost every dish they cook)
to killer hot (the Balinese and Sumatrans are not shy of the chili).  I 
lived with a Balinese family who, during a meal, would break out in a sweat,
develop runny noses and watery eyes from the heat of the food, so that they
were blowing their noses and mopping their brows throughout.  They LOVED
it.  I had always assumed that people who ate HOT food were used to it and
wouldn't have the same responses that tenderfeet had, but NO-OOO...The only
diffence is that delicious encounters with nearly raw chilis in food (esp-
cially Thai) give me the hiccups.
     To counteract the heat, Indonesians eat raw or very slightly pickled
cucumbers, or fresh fruits, such as bananas, of which there must be a dozen 
kinds, or papayas.  Also, traditionally, dishes of sambal, various HOT relishes,
are placed on the table so that the diner can decide just how hot s/he really 
wants the food to be.  When i say hot relishes, i mean HOT, not these wimpy 
pickled chilis served in Thai restaurants here, but fresh red chilis ground to 
a paste, seeds and all, perhaps with the addition of garlic, onion, citrus 
juice (they don't have lemons or limes as we know them, but other much tastier 
and more pungent varieties), and shrimp paste.  The hottest i've had combined 
steamed red chilis ground to a paste, seeds and all, with fresh raw green 
chilis, shrimp paste, and fermented soy bean paste.  PUNGENT!