Saturday, October 03, 2009

The Beginnings of BumHot



I do believe my entire families', and I mean every single one of us, obsession with all things culinarily hot 'n spicy began with the wonderful times we've spent, either all of us together or in smaller family groups, on Grand Cayman (pre Ivan ~sigh~). Perhaps I'm wrong about the beginnings, but the bottom line is, out of our past came our family obsession with the heat of the glorious hot pepper.
For quite a few years now my parents have been growing many varieties of hot peppers and then at the end of the growing season, preparing, dehydrating and pulverizing them into glorious BumHot.
This entire process is certainly not for the faint of heart (or tastebuds) and takes a very dedicated, hot pepper-adoring individual or two. You must wear gloves to prepare the peppers or your fingers will burn for days. God FORBID you make the mistake of rubbing your eyes or nose. Or worse. Then the peppers must be dehydrated. It is impossible to walk into a house with dehydrating hot peppers without immediately bursting into tears. Hard to breath too. And the final step is to Cuisinart all the dried peppers into a suitable sprinkle-size pepper flake shake. This step makes sneezing take on an entirely new definition...as in never-ending.
But the end result? Simply glorious! All the different levels of hotness and intensity make for wonderful and ever-changing delightful bites of food. Just magical!

O brother Biilllllll?? Read on Twitter you've just dried your first batch of BumHot...um, a post with many photos are in order, yes? (Tweets will get you in trouble!
)

~~~

xoabb
expect anything!

BTW - We call it BumHot because our family name is BUMgarner...
Oh, and my nickname was Bummer during college.
Isn't that just wonderful??



11 comments:

  1. No thank you, for now!!! I don't know why, but I have become so sensitive to hot stuff...I actually still like it but can't take much. I have no idea why...and this post makes me miss it that much more. It actually sounds wonderful.

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  2. Fantastic photo Annie. And I do like a sting of those peppers hanging in my kitchen.
    <><

    btw-that was not a cat grooming in my photo-even though is sure looked like it- it was just a large dried leaf. Good eye you have there!

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  3. I inherited my dad's taste for HOT HOT HOT ... so if you ever have any BumHot to share ...

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  4. I sure do wish I could ship you all the millions of peppers I have going to waste on the vine. If I only had the patience, skills and knowledge to make some BumHot I'd do it.

    "God FORBID you make the mistake of rubbing your eyes or nose. Or worse." - OK, that was hilarious. Thanks, I needed that.

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  5. wow, we love HOT in this family, too. even my 3-year-old makes eating kimchi look delicious!

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  6. moderately hot, but not hot, hot, hot!

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  7. Hi Bummer, Love that name!!!!! Your post reminded me of the time I was at a conference near Santa Fe, NM. A group of us went to a Mexican Rest. for lunch. I ordered chiil ---and when I took a big bite of that stuff, I thought I was going to die. It had green chilis in it--and was the hottest chili I had ever eaten. My whole mouth was on fire... I thought that steam was coming out of my ears. ha ha

    Thanks for your nice comment on my blog. There is joy in heaven today--but sadness right here.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  8. I will definitely take your word on it. I like a bit of heat but not overpowering

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  9. Beautiful photo - but they even look too hot for me.

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  10. "Or worse." hahahahahahaha! I'm not a fan of hot. It's my constitution. Just too sensitive. But I like the idea of it, and hot peppers are always pretty.

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Thank you for taking the time to leave a thought. It's appreciated! xoabb