Anyone that knows Aaron knows he is no stranger to spicy food. I used to get annoyed every time he pulled the hot sauce out...again...to put on his supper, but now I've just accepted that his palate is burned off.
Enter "Sean's BBQ Ghost Pepper Challenge" in Saratoga Springs. Aaron had been wanting to try it for a long time, and back in March he got his chance. He had to make it through 8 wings that were covered in a ghost pepper sauce and then coated in a ghost pepper powder. We'd heard stories of others that merely got one wing to their lips and had to quit, but they must have been total wimps...right? If he made it through them all, we got our money back, and Aaron's picture would be posted in the restaurant's Hall of Fame. Andrea's fam joined us for the show, and Aaron was pumped up and ready for the challenge. Here's how the whole thing went down:
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The beginning.
The gloves are on.
Wing #1.
No big thang! Checking to make sure he ate enough meat off the bone.
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| Wing #2. Time to get serious. |
That was rough. |
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Wing #3. Hunkering down.
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Starting to feel nauseated.
Tears ahoy. |
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| Wing #4 |
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Trying to rally, not sure he can handle anymore. |
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More tears
Really feeling sick now. |
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| Seriously...he almost threw up right here. |
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Thumbs down.
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| Where's the exit?! |
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So, turns out, ghost peppers are known as the hottest peppers in the world. We're talking a thousand times hotter than a habanero. Aaron also went into the challenge with an empty stomach, which we think greatly contributed to the nausea and aftermath later. As soon as they took the "Wall of Shame" photo, he took off like a shot and left the restaurant for some fresh air. I followed him to make sure he was ok, but he was nowhere to be seen. He told me later that he sprinted away as fast as he could, it was the only thing he could do to get his mind off the pain!! When he came back, they gave him two giant cups of milk and we got some ice cream at a nearby shop. Little did we know the worst part was yet to come.
Aaron describes the next few hours as the worst pain he has ever felt in his life. Seriously. No exageration. That chicken worked it's way through his system like a school of piranhas swimming in hot lava. He chugged two whole bottles of Maalox. He was pacing the floor one minute, crawling on all fours the next, writhing in absolute agony. We almost went to the emergency room. He was in and out of the bathroom all night long, where the piranhas dove out from both ends. When it was finally over, he was utterly exhausted. He took the next day off work and was a slug all day long.
He has vowed to never do extreme food challenges again. I think the wings cost $13.75, and I was complaining about how we paid real money for food that nearly killed him. He said $13.75 was a small price to pay for a valuable life lesson. He has since said he wouldn't do that again, even if someone offered him ten thousand dollars. A million dollars? He
might consider it.
