habañero picante -- obscure reference clarified

Typographically, Vleeptron predicts this chart is going to be a Big Mess. But you'll get the rough idea.

Anyway, a Habañero Picante is a variety of Hot Chili Pepper. Apparently it has some historical link with Havana, Cuba, but in the USA the big growers of this Swell Thing are, I think, in New Mexico. Farm workers who wander through huge fields picking them must wear very comprehensive protective clothing and gloves to prevent skin blisters and burning of the eyes. It's not like picking asparagus. It's more like processing plutonium.

When you cook with chilis this hot, don't just toss them in the stew! You'll be Real Sorry a couple of hours later when you go to eat the stew and toss down even a tiny hunk of these things. Put the chili peppers in a big metal Tea Ball (the contraption you use to brew tea with loose powder tea), and when the cooking's over, remove the tea ball from the stew. The stew will have absorbed all the hotness (picantitude) you desired, but there won't be any radioactive solid pieces of chili flesh lurking to be swallowed.

Newspaper journalists also use the Scofield Scale to rate the Hotness of Scandals. Just as a benchmark, President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky were 3,850,000 Scofield Units.

Chili Pepper Hotness Scale

The Info Service Chart & Reference Guide

Dr. Wilbur Scofield developed the Scofield scale in 1912.

It is the amount of "cups of sugar" you would need to add to "one cup of chili" until you can not detect any hotness.

Name ..................... Scofield Units ........... Hotness
=============================================================
Anaheim ..................... 100 - 250 ................ Mild
Ancho Poblano .............. 1000 - 1500 ............... Mild
Bell Pepper(s) ................ 0 ...................... Mild
Casabel .................... 5000 - 15000 ............ Medium
Cayenne ................... 30000 - 55000 ............... Hot
Chilcostle ................. 3500 - 5000 ............. Medium
Chipotle .................. 15000 ................ Medium/Hot
De Arbol .................. 15000 - 30000 ............... Hot
Habañero, Red Savina ..... 225000 - 550000 ... Very Hot/Ouch!
Habañero Yellow & Orange . 100000 - 325000 ......... Very Hot
Jalapeno, green, red ....... 2500 - 5000 ............. Medium
Louisiana Hot .............. 4000 - 10000 ............ Medium
Mirasol or Aji Mirasol ..... 2500 - 5000 ............. Medium
Mulatto .................... 2500 - 5000 ............. Medium
New Mexico #6 ............... 800 - 1400 ............. Medium
New Mexico Big Jim ......... 1000 - 1400 ............. Medium
Pasilla (de Oaxaca) ........ 1000 - 1500 ............. Medium
Pimento ....................... 0 ...................... Mild
Piquin .................... 70000 - 100000 ......... Very Hot
Scotch Bonnet ............ 100000 - 325000 ......... Very Hot
Serrano .................... 2000 - 4500 ............. Medium
Tabasco ................... 30000 - 50000 ............... Hot
Tepin ..................... 40000 - 70000 ............... Hot
Tezpur ................... 855000 ............. Not Edible!!!
Thai ...................... 75000 - 150000 ......... Very Hot

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