Channeling Johnny so bad right now...
So as not to acquire every single plant ever, had to come up with an artificial limiter. Decided to focus on edibles, herbs etc, as a sensible thing to do, with the small-print also allowing purple plants... because pretty, and why not.
A "decorative" mini paprika with purple 1-2cm large fruit ticked both boxes, so picking one plant up was a no brainer. A quick search confirmed that the fruits of the decorative species are edible, just usually really bland and don't taste good. But anyway...
Slight disappointment when a few weeks later it became clear, that the fruit is only purple when very young, but turns orange when ripened. Oh well, be that way then, you!
Harvested a handful, washed, de-seeded, planned to chop up and toss into buckwheat dinner. And, luckily, did try a 2mm2 piece first. Meaning - bit into it, near-choked, spit it out and then spent the rest of the day with a burning lip and the inside of a nostril (not a clue how I managed to make that happen) - that thing is insanely spicy!
Proceeded to fine-chop and freeze the entire batch (half a teaspoon per panful of food sounds about the tolerable amount). And, genius as I am, incapable of learning from past mistakes, did not use rubber gloves to process it. Because, come on, there was so little, and touching the fruit while chopping didn't cause any immediate discomfort on fingers...
Yeah, right, 30 min later...
Now, 3 days past, can still feel the burn on fingers when squeezing them on anything, or when near warmth (including another body parts). Curiously mouth and nose recovered fully in just a day - not sure why/how the reactions of mucous membranes differ from regular skin with regards to capsaicin, but there it is.
(Wonder which is spicier, though, this small purple/orange one or the red spiky one from last year...)
Cheers,
Hedi
