While not grown deep in the jungle primeval by the inmates of a Guatemalan insane asylum, the Bjut Jolokia or "Ghost Chile" pepper is actually the hottest pepper on Earth.Chile pepper "heat" is measured in Scoville Heat Units or SHUs. Originally, as I learned in a particular delightful episode of Good Eats, these SHUs were based on the amount of sugar water it would take to completely dilute the "heat" of the pepper, as measured by a (probably reluctant) human panel. Originator Wilbur Scoville may have been a bit of a masochist, but scientists continued to name the Scoville Heat Unit after him even after they changed the method to a less subjective (and less painful) test using high-performance liquid chromatography.
The Bjut Jolokia tops out at 1,041,427 SHU, meaning that it would take just about all the water on Earth, mixed with most of the sugar, to dissipate its heat. And while you're mixing up that sugar water, this crazy pepper will probably burn a hole right through your tongue.
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