This jam’s a killer.
Just looking at the itty-bitty chilli pile on the bench is making my eyes water. I've been putting this jam off for a while. It’s actually a mini batch - of a bigger wedding order, so I'm pretty sure this bride is out to get a few people…..including me.
Super-hot chilli jam & I have a love hate relationship – I love a small bit in cooking but hate hate hate hate hate making it in jam. Touch anything in the wrong spot & I go into a world of pain that lingers. I'm a super mild chilli fan – and not the ‘Nados mild’ either. Fremantle does an annual Chilli festival in March - & that weekend, I'm always somewhere else in the country.
Yet I still find that I make it rather regularly in a mates ‘Sizzling Sauce’ recipe (so perfect for BBQ's) , Red Onion + Rosemary Marmalade (Excellent with cheese+ crackers) & as a warming undertone in Raspberry & Tweak of Chilli Jam (great on freshly made scones) – and for custom orders like this….but I generally don’t use it much myself. Just for the record, I am abit of a chilli woose & generally like to taste my food.
So to make sure I was getting the right degree of temperature with this one, it required a little bit of background research. The Australian Geographic has outlined the worlds 10 hottest chillies …..and I found the 5th hottest chilli in the world, the Bhut Jolokia in a local nursery. This little red chappy is grown in India/Bangladesh & is so hot that the Indian army developed and use them as a viable weapon in combat – the chilli grenade.
Bhut Jolokia has 900,000- 1,100,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHUs). As a benchmark your ‘everyday-burn-my-bum-off-i- I-ate-it-from- the-local-vegi-man’s hot chilli is around 2500 SHU’s According to this Scoville Scales – the worlds hottest chilli, as recorded by the Guinness World records last year, was the ‘Trinidad scorpion Butch Taylor’ at almost 1,500,000 SHU’s . It is actually made in NSW, Australia at the Chilli factory. They cook it up using chemical masks and protection suits. Apparently the recommendation is to have it with avocado & cheese &ham sandwiches. Seriously – in a sandwich!? That’s my idea of hell. Although sadly Australia has lost its recently been bumped off its post by an American chap with the Carolina Reaper. But really how can the average Joe taste the difference between them when your face is burning off?
If you’re a fan of cultivating your own blow-your-socks-off fun, Wildfire Chilli are the one stop shop for all things chilli in Perth. These guys are chilli kings of Australia, with the biggest range of plants, seeds & products all chilli related. Want to get something hot tasty things locally today? The Redi-Cut Butchers in Warnbro have some lovely mouth burning condiments in stock & if you want even more hotter without going to the big smoke - chat to Rod - if it exists he will hunt it down.
So I really hope my lovely bride loves this jam -for some of her 'special people', I hope they try it with a bucket of ice and as its apart of the table placement, I bloody hope some of her targeted guests don't switch seats on her on the big day.