Tech Broiler

Jason Perlow and Scott Raymond

What does a Palm Pre cost? Apparently, 1 Million Scoville Units.

By | June 3, 2009, 8:01am PDT

Summary: My friend and fellow foodie/techie Mike Pfeffer recently won a Palm Pre in a contest by PreCentral.net apparently by willing to sacrifice his entire gastro-intestinal system to the Bhut Jolokia. Bhut Jolokia isn’t the name of a Indian demon worshipping cult from an Indiana Jones movie — it’s a type of chili pepper related to a [...]

My friend and fellow foodie/techie Mike Pfeffer recently won a Palm Pre in a contest by PreCentral.net apparently by willing to sacrifice his entire gastro-intestinal system to the Bhut Jolokia.

Bhut Jolokia isn’t the name of a Indian demon worshipping cult from an Indiana Jones movie — it’s a type of chili pepper related to a Habanero. However, If you think Habaneros are hot — which come in at around 80,000-100,000 Scoville units each, comparing it to the Bhut Jolokia is like comparing a small tactical nuclear weapon that was recently tested in North Korea to the Tsar Bomba that went off in 1961.

The Bhut Jolokia chile pepper, measuring in at approximately 1 Million Scoville units of heat each, is the hottest chile pepper in the world. And if you are actually willing to submit yourself to it, there’s an Indian restaurant in New York City, Brick Lane Curry House, which will make a dish called Phaal Curry that features these nasty little things.

Well, apparently, Mike was willing to eat a Phaal Curry to get his hands on a Palm Pre. Frankly, I think I would probably prefer to wait on line and pay cash for the thing rather than submit my GI system and sensitive mucous membranes to the horrible aftermath.

Would you me willing to shoot fire out of your rear end to get a hold of a Palm Pre? Talk Back and Let Me Know.

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Jason Perlow, Sr. Technology Editor at ZDNet, is a technologist with over two decades of experience integrating large heterogeneous multi-vendor computing environments in Fortune 500 companies.

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Jason Perlow

My Full-Time Employer is IBM. I write as a freelancer for ZDNet.

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Biography

Jason Perlow

Jason Perlow, Sr. Technology Editor at ZDNet is a technologist with over two decades of experience with integrating large heterogeneous multi-vendor computing environments in Fortune 500 companies. A long-time computer enthusiast starting the age of 13 with his first Apple ][ personal computer, he began his freelance writing career starting at ZD Sm@rt Reseller in 1996 and has since authored numerous guest columns for ZDNet Enterprise and Ziff-Davis Internet. Jason was previously Senior Technology Editor for Linux Magazine, where he wrote about Open Source issues from 1999 to 2008.

In his spare time, Jason is an avid amateur chef and food writer, where his work reviewing New Jersey restaurants has appeared in The New York Times. He is also the founder of the popular food web site eGullet and blogs about restaurants and cooking at OffTheBroiler.com.

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Unless you are allergic
wellduh 6th Jun 2009
Pepper allergies causing blistering are not
unknown. Though I suppose the "extra" additives
are just as likely as the pepper itself.
0 Votes
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Another reason to eat curry
davebarnes 3rd Jun 2009
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At least with the former, I'll be able to linger for months, maybe even years. With the latter, I'll be gone in months. No thanks.
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Please don't mislead
nothingness 3rd Jun 2009
Capsaicin actually appears to REDUCE the rate of GI cancers, not the other way around.
0 Votes
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Contributr
As a matter of fact
jperlow 3rd Jun 2009
The Phaal Curry is used in India as a stomach
remedy!

Still burns like hell on the way out, though.
0 Votes
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There is an understandable belief that hot peppers would be corrosive. They give such a burning sensation that people are led to think that they would have the same effect as sulfuric acid or, at the other end of the pH scale, caustic soda.

Actually, the ONLY significant effect of capsaicin is directly stimulating nerve terminations that make you feel pain (which, in turn, induces your body to produce pleasurable endorphins to counteract, which is apparently why [some] people like hot dishes).

Scientists have made experiments directly instilling hot pepper extracts into the stomach using a sound and there was NO effect. However, prepared sauces such as Tabasco did irritate the mucous lining because of the vinegar contained in it, since vinegar *is* a known gastric irritant.

Likewise, I remember seing promotional materials from the makers of Tabasco years ago, saying that they have to let the sauce age in casks put together without nails or other metal parts, because they wouldn't be able to withstand the corrosion. Actually, that corrosion would likely come from the salt contained in the sauce - which given the special fossil salt used in Tabasco, could possibly have even stronger electrolytic properties than common table salt.

So, while it may be rather painful to taste a Bhut Jolokia-laden dish, your GI system will suffer no harm, let alone cancer.
0 Votes
+ -
Unless you are allergic
wellduh 6th Jun 2009
Pepper allergies causing blistering are not
unknown. Though I suppose the "extra" additives
are just as likely as the pepper itself.
When are we going?...it's on me!
a couple of days of excruiating pain for a brand new Palm Pre count me in =)!!!!!
0 Votes
+ -
was this a promotion or a bet?
frd050101@... 4th Jun 2009
Was this part of a private bet, a contest, or can anyone sign away their rectum for a Palm Pre?
If it is a promotion by the restaurant or someone else in conjunction with this restaurant, then you can expect to see me there this weekend, Tums in hand wink

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