Aloha Everyone,
Last night I drove out to Palm Springs from San Diego to meet Justin Bailey at “The Falls” restaurant. Justin and I have been in contact for about a month. He is the “Executive Chef” at this restaurant and contacted me regarding our “Bhuts”. I sent him some fresh Bhut Jolokia peppers and some fresh, dried flakes that I processed at the same time. He had been having a difficult time getting the real stuff and had heard a few too many “cock and bull” stories along the way. These “Bhuts” I sent to him were sampled by the brave and were evidently a bit hit as everyone at the restaurant knew about them and me “The Pepperman”. When I arrived, I was greeted with open arms everywhere and treated like a “rock star”. Then the stories about eating those peppers I sent the previous week started to flow. I swear, I laughed all night hearing these stories and had one of the best nights of my life. I asked some of the story tellers to email me those stories from last night so stay tuned.
Now, about the dinner we had. It was absolutely amazing. I consider myself a good cook and take pride in using only the freshest, organic food that I can find (most of it comes from my garden). So, when Justin told me that he searches far and wide to do the same whenever possible, I was impressed. Usually restaurants use way too much salt
and/or sugar, but not Justin. Our meal started out with seared Ahi on top of a beautiful salad that had a fruity but not sweet garnish with ginger. I cannot do it justice with words, I can only tell you that there was not a morsel left in record time. The next dish was “jerk” chicken with sauteed plantains and I don’t remember much else (the tequila was starting to take effect). Then there was halibut, beautiful carrots, and black garlic that was fermented for 6 months that was absolutely delicious. Then arrived a petit fillet topped with duck liver. This was unbelievable! I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would ever eat duck liver, but needed to expand my horizons. I rarely eat meat or fish, but wanted to last night and was very glad that I did. With every new dish, Justin gave us a full description of what he was serving, how it was cooked, and what he was trying to accomplish. I have traveled to more than 50 countries in my life and have had great meals along the way , but I honestly do not EVER remember eating food that tasted this great. I will be “overnighting” our fresh organic Bhuts to Justin throughout our harvest season which goes well into November. He has some very special plans for this hottest pepper of all peppers. I can’t wait to see what he comes up with! If you are ever in Palm Springs, please, check out “The Falls” restaurant. It’s right downtown on Palm Canyon.
Jamie
Jamie;
I simply must visit this restaurant as I am a serious “Chili Head” as well as a lover of great Ahi.
Sincerely;
Nathaniel
Comment by Nathaniel Harris — July 28, 2009 @ 3:01 pm
Hey Jamie how’s the surf? Just a little update for you on Jeff (the Philipino) who ate the pepper ate the bar. When I saw him next he told me that after he left whitch was about 30 minutes after eating the pepper, remember he said he was fine at that point, he was walking home and found himself unable to keep going. He said he had to sit and wait on the side of the street for about another 15 minutes or so before the sweat that was pouring off of him to subside and he was able to walk. He said the more active he was the hotter it would burn. On the inside. I got a good kick out of that story.
In other news, looks like i’m going to be able to move forward with my “Hotter Than Hell” nights at the bar. Probably 1 day a month I will develop a new menu featuring your peppers and sell tickets in advance. Hopefully enough people hear about it and are into it. We’ll play Red Hot Chilli Pepper music and eat really good, really spicy food and drink a lot.
Looking forward to next time!!!!
Comment by Justin Bailey — July 29, 2009 @ 3:36 pm
Hey Justin,
Once again, thanks for the great dinner! It was magnificent. When I saw Jeff kinda cruising at the bar 30 minutes after he ate the Bhut, I thought that this guy had an iron stomach. It’s good to know that he got his ass kicked just like I did! What people don’t understand it that the fresher the pepper, the hotter. A lot of Bhut Jolokia peppers are sent over from India. In fact, they exported over 15 tons of them in 2008! They are commercially grown, and I guarantee that they don’t rate very high for heat. Probably more like a habenero. The growers in the USA for the most part grown them like a business with chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides and then send them out. Hardly anyone grows them organically like we do and I will tell you that it’s a huge hassle to do it this way. Lots of TLC and labor. As I told you last week, we almost set the world record on our first attempt and I am sure that we will set the record within 90 days. We are tweaking the variables now and will let you know our results. Please let me know if you need more peppers Bro.
Jamie
Comment by admin — July 30, 2009 @ 2:39 am