Working in a Mexican restaurant during his teenage years, Mark Buchanan discovered his love for jalapeños. Since then he has climbed higher and higher on the Scoville scale.
Beautiful, dark-green jalapeño peppers will make your tongue burn — wonderful! But as I later discovered, the jalapeño is a mild creature compared to the bird’s eye chilli, which gives an aggressive fire to Asian curries and soups. And that heat, I now know, bears no relation to the savage pain produced by a Naga or Bhut jolokia chilli, or the trauma of the pointy-tailed Carolina Reaper, currently the world’s hottest pepper. Bred as a hybrid in 2013 by ‘Smokin’ Ed Currie in South Carolina, the Reaper reaches 2.2 million Scoville units on the scientific scale used to measure the capacity of an edible substance to produce heat and pain.
That’s not too hot for thrill-seeking enthusiasts who are creating new hybridized peppers and chemically extracted chilli products, some of which soar far beyond the Reaper on the Scoville scale. Invented by American pharmacist Wilbur Scoville in 1912, the Scoville unit helps the food industry achieve chilli sauces with precise levels of heat. For chilli extremists, it helps distinguish the devoted chilli-head from the dilettante.
Scoville’s original method — the Scoville organoleptic test — employed a panel of human tasters to determine how many times a substance needed to be diluted in neutral solution until people tasted no heat at all. Under this test, the heat of an extract of the mild jalapeño disappears after being diluted about 5,000 times, yielding a Scoville rating of roughly 5,000, although individual chillies fluctuate between 3,500 and 8,000. The hotter bird’s eye scores between 50,000 and 100,000.
Today, the multi-billion-dollar hot sauce industry measures Scoville ratings with a faster and more objective scientific method based on high-pressure liquid chromotography of pulverized chilli samples in solution. This method detects the concentration of capsaicin, the chemical responsible for chilli heat. Chomp down on a Carolina Reaper and your tongue burns because capsaicin — a phytoalkaloid produced by chilli plants — binds to a key temperature receptor, TRPV1, present on nerve fibres. The result is an urgent message sent to the brain — “You’re on fire!”
This mechanism reflects an evolutionary adaptation by chilli plants, which spread their seeds more effectively if birds, rather than mammals, eat their fruit. Mammals chew food with teeth, destroying ingested seeds. In contrast, seeds pass easily through the digestive tract of birds, emerging intact to be scattered far and wide. The burn of capsaicin makes most level-headed mammals avoid chilli pepper plants, helping those plants thrive.
The exception is one species of mammal, hom*o sapiens, which seems hell-bent on seeking the most intense chilli pain possible. The creator of the Carolina Reaper has recently claimed to have bred a new chilli, named Pepper X, with a Scoville rating over 3 million, well beyond the Reaper. Pepper X awaits confirmation as the world’s new hottest chilli by the Guinness Book of Records. But those seeking insane levels of capsaicin agony aren’t waiting for selective breeding, and have used chemistry to take chilli extracts into new territory.
The recipe for an extract is simple: immerse pulverized chilli in very pure alcohol, and let the alcohol draw capsaicin-containing oils into the solution. Later, evaporate off the alcohol. I have an extract in my kitchen — a nearly black oil with frightening tinges of exotic orange, which measures around 1.2 million on the Scoville scale. This is useful for ramping up the heat of any salsa. But other extracts are just a click away: Psycho Serum is far hotter than any natural chilli, scoring 6.4 million on the Scoville scale. Or there’s Mad Dog 37 Plutonium coming in at 9 million Scoville units, or the elegantly named Death Cap at a ludicrous 13 million, close to the theoretical maximum of 16 million for capsaicin-based extracts.
That number is attained only by a pure crystalline extract of capsaicin — obviously too dangerous to be ingested by any human being. Well, not really, as you can see in a delightful video (https://go.nature.com/2DK7T79) self-recorded by chilli extremist Darth Naga nearly a decade ago. Forty-five seconds after swallowing some pure capsaicin extract, in agony and suffering from tremors and hiccups, Darth bravely manages to put his experience into words: “The heat is unfathomable!” before shutting off the video. Darth survived, fortunately.
For now, 16 million Scoville units is the upper limit to the chilli experience — there’s nothing hotter, at least with the biomolecule capsaicin. But other biomolecules carry more punch than capsaicin. Resiniferatoxin, a chemical produced by the cactus-like plant Euphorbia resinifera, is the hottest chemical currently known, 1,000 times hotter even than capsaicin. A pure extract of this stuff scores 16 billion Scoville units. Eating just a gram or two would cause serious internal burns, and possibly death.
FAQs
Some Like It Hot pushes gender norms and raises questions regarding sexuality. But, where the issue lies is in its contradictory plot. While the film attempts to praise women for dealing with the everyday hardships they face at the hands of men, that praise is equivalent to a backhanded compliment.
What is the famous line at the end of Some Like It Hot? ›
The tango dance which the two share (with Lemmon leading by mistake) is one of the highlights of Some Like It Hot and the film's famous closing line – “Well, nobody's perfect” – is delivered by Brown after Lemmon's character has revealed to him that he is in fact a man.
Why was Some Like It Hot so controversial? ›
The film was produced without approval from the Motion Picture Production Code (Hays Code) because it features cross-dressing. The code had been gradually weakening in its scope since the early 1950s, owing to greater social tolerance for taboo topics in film, but it was enforced until the mid-1960s.
What were the guys going to borrow from Nellie Some Like It Hot? ›
Jerry suggests that they don some wigs and padding and go for it, but Joe rejects this crazy idea out of hand. Instead he manipulates Nellie into lending them her car to go to a low-paying one-night gig out of town.
Why was Some Like It Hot banned? ›
"'This film, though it purports to be a comedy, contains screen material elements that are judged to be seriously offensive to Christian and traditional standards of morality and decency," he wrote. "Furthermore, its treatment dwells almost without relief on gross suggestiveness in costuming, dialogue and situations.
How is gender represented in Some Like It Hot? ›
Despite the possible danger involved in performing masculinity, Some Like it Hot nonetheless illustrates gender as a performance. Joe performed both mas- culinity and femininity while Sugar and Jerry both per- formed femininity.
What is the most famous line of all time? ›
A jury consisting of 1,500 film artists, critics, and historians selected "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn", spoken by Clark Gable as Rhett Butler in the 1939 American Civil War epic Gone with the Wind, as the most memorable American movie quotation of all time.
What happens at the end of Some Like It Hot? ›
In one last ditch effort, Jerry removes his wig and confesses, "You don't understand Osgood; I'm a man!" Rather than panic or show any sort of anger, Osgood simply smiles and says, "Well, nobody's perfect." The screen fades to black, Osgood still smiling and Jerry in disbelief that Osgood isn't upset.
How many Oscars did Some Like It Hot win? ›
Awards and honors
| Date of ceremony | Award | Category |
|---|
| April 4, 1960 | Academy Awards | Best Art Direction – Black-and-white |
| Best Costume Design—Black and white |
| May 6, 1960 | Writers Guild of America Awards | Best Written Comedy |
| September 28, 1960 | Laurel Awards | Top Female Comedy Performance |
15 more rowsAs per the account of Chris Lemmon, the son of Jack Lemmon, Jack Lemmon offered reassurance to Marilyn Monroe when faced with her "issues." "He perceived Marilyn for who she truly was, distinct from her on-screen persona. She was an incredibly committed and intelligent individual.
He was the only child of Mildred Burgess (née LaRue; 1896–1967) and John Uhler Lemmon Jr. (1893–1962), who rose to Vice-President of Sales of the Doughnut Corporation of America. John Uhler Lemmon Jr. was of Irish heritage, and Jack Lemmon was raised Catholic.
Why is it called "some like it hot"? ›
The title is a reference to "hot" jazz, the type of music that the all-girl band performs. The title figures into the story about halfway through the movie when Junior asks Sugar if she plays "that fast music... jazz?" Sugar replies, "Yeah! Real hot!", to which Junior responds, "Well, I guess some like it hot.
Why was Some Like It Hot filmed in black and white? ›
3) The film was released in 1959 but set in 1929 and director Billy Wilder opted to film in black and white so the leading men's make-up would look less garish and more realistic.
Was Some Like It Hot ever colorized? ›
Their talents combined made "Some Like It Hot" a comedy ahead of its time — but ironically, the film was shot in black and white, and not for the reason most might think.
What is the theme of the film Some Like It Hot? ›
Story revolves around the age-old theme of men masquerading as women. Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon escape from a Chicago nightclub that's being raided, witness the St. Valentine's Day massacre and 'escape' into the anonymity of a girl band by dressing up as femme musicians.
What is the story behind Some Like It Hot? ›
After two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.
Why is Some Like It Hot important? ›
Wilder's innuendo ridden Some Like It Hot pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable representations of gender and sexuality in 1950's Hollywood and is seen as a milestone film in the challenge to the Motion Picture Production Code (popularly known as the Hays Code).
What is the Broadway musical Some Like It Hot about? ›
Set in Chicago when Prohibition has everyone thirsty for a little excitement, Some Like It Hot is the rollicking story of two musicians forced to flee the Windy City after witnessing a mob hit.
