Duffy grows some of the hottest and rarest chile peppers in the world. Duffy–who 6 years ago knew nothing at all about chiles except that they were good in his homemade salsa–runs the website Refining Fire Chiles (he recently bought a secondary domain name, Super Hot Chiles, which also links to the site), from which you can buy fresh chiles, chile plants and chile seeds.

Not just any chiles either, but Bhut Jolokias, Trinidad Scorpions, Naga Moriches and Trinidad 7 Pots, to name only a few. Bhut Jolokia chiles have been tested at one million Scoville Heat Units (SHUs), which puts them as the world’s hottest chile pepper.

I’m curious to see how these taste but am not quite ready to meet death yet.
[Squid Ink]

2. What is the most important restaurant city in the country right now?


Jonathan Gold: I’m duty-bound to say Los Angeles, aren’t I? But even if I weren’t, there is no city in the world with nearly as much diversity in its restaurants, as much access to splendid ingredients, or as much devotion to the competing concepts of tradition and change. It is not for nothing that such a huge percentage of national trends begin here.

Crippled only by its painful price-tag, this long-heralded cookbook by Heston Blumenthal, one of the UK’s most celebrated chefs — in its new edition, is finally priced for mass enjoyment. What set this book beyond most culinary publications was the joint pairing of acclaimed visual artist Dave McKean. This new edition of the Fat Duck Cookbook will be released 10/13. With the Momofuku cookbook coming out a few weeks afterward, October is looking like a good month for foodies.


[via Eat Me Daily]