Top 3 "Must Have" Hot Chilli Sauces for New Zealanders

Hot and spicey food is very un-New Zealand, but there are more and more of us spicing up our lives. Over the last year or so I have started my hunt for hot sauces available in New Zealand. Here is a mini-list of 3 hot sauces I must have on hand at all times

1. Orcona Chipotle (this makes pizza magical)

2. Huffman's Hot Sauce (infinitely better then Tabasco)

3. Waha Wera Kiwifruit & Habanero (available at New Worlds, I personally don't like kiwifruit flavour that much, but this is amazing)

As I work my way through other hot chilli sauces I discover around New Zealand I will add to this list.

Other chilli condiments worthy of a mention:

Orcona - Pickled Jalapenos, Harissa, and Red Hot Rocoto Relish
Jonathan's Spices - Chilli Rock Salt and Smoked Chilli Oil

Chef dies after eating 'super hot' chilli

An aspiring chef died after eating a "super hot" chilli sauce in a competition with his girlfriend's brother, an inquest in England has heard.

"Andrew just ate the chillies with a plate of Dolmio sauce. It was not a proper meal because he had already eaten lamb chops and potato mash after work," she said.

"He apparently got into bed at 2.30am and started scratching all over. His girlfriend ... woke up and he had gone. It is incredible. Who would have thought he could have died from eating chilli sauce?"

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Chile Peppers: The Science Behind The Spice

Science Friday broadcasts this week from the heart of the "chili belt" in Tuscon, Ariz. What makes peppers spicy? Why do some people love spicy foods? Researchers explain the chemistry of peppers and the psychology of spice.

Growing peppers isn't a low-tech task — farmers explain what goes into getting jalapenos from seed to shelf, and how science helps them to do it.

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Capsaicinoid will bind with pain receptor in your mouth

So what really makes those "hot spicy hunter" still consuming chili? Chili contained several chemical agent, collectively called capsaicinoids. When you consuming spicy food, capsaicinoid will bind with pain receptor in your mouth, tongue, and throat. This reaction will triggers burning sensation in your mouth cavity, increasing your heart rate and perspiration, and obviously releasing endorphins to your brain. Endorphins produce excitement feeling, sense of well being, light analgesia (pain relieve). This excitement feeling will recorded in your deep memory, and causing the "chili addiction" to "hot spicy hunter" group.

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World’s Hottest Hot Sauce

Lazar's taste buds are almost immune to the heating sensation of his creations but he still remembers his first taste of the incredible '16 Million Reserve'. He declares that the pain was unbearable and in his words it was like the hammer was brutally hitting his tongue. More so his tongue had swelled up for days to come. If you might be wandering how the name for the above creation has derived then you must know that the inspiration came from pure capsaicin, which has a heat score of 16 million units.

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How To Cut a Chile Pepper

Mahalo Daily: Tears of Joy Hot Sauce Shop (Time: 4:22)