Mild, medium, sort of hot, hot, really hot... They all mean different things to different people. You pick one and take your chances.

Enter the hi-tech solution: Time-limited, self-neutralizing hotsauce, with a molecular "timer" activated by saliva enzymes.

For the most timid, 5-second sauce would be a good minimum, to be sure the true flavor had a chance to "bloom".

On the other end of the scale, we could have 5-, 10-, and 15-minute versions for people who loved spicy food but whose stomachs had other ideas.

(I just know some food company's going to rip this one off from me.)
-- Ander, Apr 03 2008

I think you need to research spices some more. Different spices already have different effects.

Some are "hot" on first taste, some become "hot" while you eat them, and some are "hot" only as an after-taste. Some fade quickly, others don't. And, of course, the spices are "hot" in different ways, with different tastes. Good cooks blend these different spcies to create the right ambience for each dish.
-- DrCurry, Apr 03 2008


I'm with the good doctor on this one. As well as some spices are mouth hot, others are sinus hot. I'm always amused by the ones that make me think I've made a terrible mistake, then they fade away.
-- normzone, Apr 03 2008



random, halfbakery