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Saturday 10 October 2015

Topic Generator: Hungry Requirement

Chilli

The week-end was around the corner and so plans were being made for the hungry requirements of the family. 

“What about Saturday evening?” I asked

No. 1 son suggested Chile con Carne. No. 1 son is autistic and knows that as custom goes, the cook (me) often serves chile con carne on Saturday evening. It belongs to Saturday evening. And so on Friday the various ingredients were bought, including one of those very sharp red hot peppers to give it an oomph in taste. Saturday arrived and the remainders were bought by the cook’s husband. Unfortunately he forgot the bread. Now in this family bread is a very important component to the chilli con carne. Some might eat it with rice, even pasta, but in this family it is eaten with a fresh, crusty, white bread. It is custom. No. 1 son always pays a visit to town on Saturday afternoon and so he was given the quest to bring such a bread, preferably one of those long flutes that the Paris people walk around with all the time - at least it seems so.

The scene was set in the evening and the cook chopped peppers, fried minced meat and added a tin of tomatoes for good measure. The long red hot chilli was sliced in the middle and the seeds removed. It was then put in the pan to cook with the rest. Of course chilli powder a la chile con carne was added for an extra push. The cook washed her hands after handling the red hot chilli, as memories remained from a time when she once forgot and her eyes were pouring out tears from the contact with her fingers. Never rub your eyes when preparing chilli con carne.

Soon it was time to eat and all the family sat at the table. The cook’s husband was the main food taster and he found it was just a little hot, no he discovered it was very hot. After drinking a glass of cold water and recovering from the shock he asked

“Did you slice the chilli into the mixture?”

“Why, is it hot?”

It was then that son No. 1 removed a very long red piece of chilli from his dish, although he did not ask for a glass of water.

“See, I told you I didn’t slice it, I left it in two halves.”

“Oh, I see, but it is very hot.”

“I find it just right.”

Luckily the cook’s husband survived. Probably his taste buds had accustomed themselves to the mega chilli attack from the chile that had probably dissolved itself in his plate for some unknown reason.


Eventually all was eaten, son No 1 eating the remainders, although something was very strange. I removed a long piece of chilli from my plate and so did son No. 1, but the cook’s husband seemed to have no long pieces. Did it dissolve itself in his food after all? As I did not have to treat him for 3rd degree burns it seemed to have gone down well, although he did say more than once that my chilli con carne was very hot.

Chile con carne

8 comments:

  1. Hilarious! I know how that is! I recently downed a pepper that a friend had forgotten to take out of the local Oil Down dish she had prepared! "Oh,", she said, " Did I forget to take out the pepper?"... after I spluttered all over the dining table!! I got the pepper!

    http://www.simplytrinicooking.com/oil-down/#axzz3oDYhBZ00

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    1. At least you had a few mild ingredients to calm it all down in the dish. I have never eaten breadfruit.

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    2. Breadfruit when cooked properly is amazing. I don't know whether they import it into Switzerland but after discovering it in Barbados many years ago, I used to buy it from a West Indian market stall in Lewisham.

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    3. I might be able to buy it in Bern or Zürich, but in our little local market town of Solothurn probably not.

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    4. If you find it, try it and use a Caribbean recipe.

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  2. It looks a very thick and hearty chilli......almost like a minced-meat stew. I like my chilli with a good kick, so I think I would have been ok with that, although I prefer mine served with white rice rather than bread.

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    1. I did a check in Internet to see how chillii is supposed to be served. There are many ideas, but it seems that in England it is nearly always served with rice, as well as a few other countries. There is always a kick in my chilli, sometimes more than a kick, a real hammer, but we survive. I like it with three colours of peppers, green, red and yellow and kidney beans as well as the big white beans. I also put a little red wine in it and my chilli spice mix also contains cumin.

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    2. I always put red wine in mine and the cumin. I think mine is okay but my mother's was to die for! She was known for it! With rice! I could do good bread though!

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