NCSA

The Lore of Habanero

The NCSA Habanero ® Project
The Habanero Pepper
How Hot is Hot?
Unusual Uses of Chili Peppers
The Origin of the Species
Habanero Trivia
What's a Ristra?
Habanero References

The NCSA Habanero TM Project

NCSA Habanero is a project designed to create a framework for sharing Java objects over the Internet and provide collaborative tools. You can download our software for free.

A lot of people keep asking questions about the origins of the project name. Here's some answers.

 

The Habanero Pepper

Habanero is a chili pepper. Not just any chili pepper, the hottest chili on the planet. We named the NCSA Habanero (TM) project after this pepper.

The highly unusual extreme heat of chili peppers have sparked many and varied reactions by people throughout the centuries. Some people like it. Some just can't handle it.

 

How Hot is Hot?

Prior to the use of high-pressure liquid chromatography, the measurement of hotness was somewhat subjective. For starters, here's the Aztec hotness scale, in the Nahuatl language:
Nahuatl English
coco hot
cocopatic very hot
cocopetz-patic very very hot
cocopetztic brilliant hot
cocopetzquauitl extremely hot
cocopalatic runaway hot

In 1912, a pharmacist Wilbur L Scoville created a scale of relative hotness based on extraction of the active ingredient, the capsaicin alkaloid (8-methyl-N- vanillyl-6-nonenamide), from the peppers. The resultant fluid is diluted with with sugar-water and a poll is taken of the people doing the sampling. Although more modern methods are less subject to perception variance, the Scoville unit is still the most popular. By point of comparison, the jalapeño, the most popular "hot" pepper in the USA is about 5000 Scovilles, while the Habanero can hit 300000 Scovilles.

 

Unusual Uses of Chili Peppers

  1. As instruments of torture, for prisoners, thieves, unfaithful spouses, etc. Said to have been used for the torture of prisioners as recently as the Iraq/Kuwait war.
  2. As the active ingredient in incapacitating gasses (e.g., as a tear gas replacement, or dog repellent).
  3. As grizzly bear repellent. Also as a repellent for deer, rabbit, and meadow voles, and to keep squirrels out of bird feeders.
  4. In coming-of-age and rite-of-passage ceremonies (not unlike the Habanero (TM) "we shipped the Beta" party of 6/23/96).
  5. As an aphrodisiac (unproven).
  6. As a topical anesthetic (e.g., for toothache).
  7. For coloring in cosmetics.
  8. As a source of Vitamins A and C.
  9. In the Mitu region of Orinoguia, Colombia, people are said to smoke the pajarito ("little bird") pepper.
  10. As a general, health-promoting tonic or in treatment of specific ailments (a very large number of claims, spanning centuries, some even attempt documented proof)
  11. As a muscle relaxant, applied externally.
  12. As an expectorant.
  13. To induce vomiting.
  14. To pay one's taxes.

 

The Origin of the Species

The chili peppers are all descendants of plants from the Western Hemisphere. Christopher Colombus named them "peppers" thinking they were related to black peppercorns. They aren't. And, he wasn't in India either. But, the cruise was a really good demo, so we overlook some bugs!

Owing to their unusual spice and flavor, within 50 years of his return to Europe, chili peppers were being grown on the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. This is a deployment record unbroken until the arrival of NCSA Mosaic!

 

Habanero Trivia

  1. The per-capita chili consumption in Thailand is 5 grams per person per day.
  2. The first pepper in space was a jalapeño, taken up by Willimam Lenoir in 1982.
  3. It's a fruit, not a vegetable.
  4. George Washington (first president of the USA) grew chili peppers at his home, Mount Vernon, in Virginia.
  5. Capsaicin fluoresces.
  6. There's no connection between chili peppers and the beverage "Dr. Pepper".
  7. Consuming Habaneros sometimes induces a temporary mild deafness, "so you don't hear your own screams".
  8. The genus Capsicum was named by Joseph Pitton de Tournefort. In his Institutiones Rei Herbariae, 1700, he classified 27 varieties.
  9. When people who eat a lot of chilis buy a ristra (a string of dried peppers), the rule of thumb is to allow twice the height of each family member for the amount of dried peppers needed to last until the next harvest.
  10. Unwise handling of hot chilis can induce a medical condition known as "Hunan Hand", where the capsaicin enters tiny cracks in the skin, and produces a profound burning sensation that lasts quite a while. (Lidocaine or vinegar are reported to help.)
  11. Birds are apparently unaffected by capsaicin.

 

What's a Ristra?

Image of a ristra. The NCSA Habanero project refers to a ristra as a collection of collaborative tools available from NCSA Habanero. Traditionally a ristra is long bundle of chili peppers tied in bunches of three then the bunches are tied to a length of rope or wire. Ristras are created to store the pepper crop. They are hung to dry on the south side of the house and after the peppers were dry, a light coat of vegetable oil was applied to keep the peppers preserved.

 

Habanero References

  1. Peppers, a Story of Hot Pursuits, by Amal Naj, published by Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1992, ISBN 0-394-57077-4
  2. Smithsonian, January 1992, "Care for a little Hellish Relish? Or try a Hotsicle", by Jim Robbins.
  3. "Taste the Flavor, Feel the Heat", Chile Today Hot Tamale (TM), Inc., 1995
  4. Chili Peppers, a report by Thomas Jackson of Centennial High School, Champaign, IL
  5. Peppers Test, by CyberSauce.COM

 

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Last modified: February 12, 1998