The Infinity Chilli, now a record breaker.
Experts have pronounced a chilli grown in the market
town of Grantham, Lincs, as the hottest in the world.
Tests have revealed the "Infinity Chilli" to have a Scoville
Scale Rating of 1,176,182 - hotter than chilli reportedly used in
hand grenades by the Indian military. But what is the attraction of
this insanely hot ingredient?
The story of the world's hottest chilli begins not in Mexico or
Bangladesh, but next to the barbed wire at RAF Cottesmore in
Rutland.
Nick Woods, working shifts as an RAF security guard and
considering his growing family, decided he had to do something more
entrepreneurial with his life.
That was five years ago. What was Nick's hobby - cooking up hot
sauces in his kitchen - developed into his Fire Foods sauce
business, and now the 38-year-old Grantham man finds himself
literally in possession of hot property.
Like many great discoveries Nick says he developed the Infinity
Chilli accidentally.
"There are 4,000 different varieties of chilli," he explains,
"and they're really easy to cross.
"I knew as soon as I saw it in the polytunnel. It stood out, and
when I dissected it I could tell by the skin tissue and the seeds
that it was a hot one."
Technically the chilli is not a vegetable but a fruit, from the
plant genus "Capsicum".
The heat comes from the substance "capsaicin" which is found in
all chillies. The attraction of it lies in the way it livens up our
foods and makes the body produce pleasurable endorphins
afterwards.
nick wood
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