
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, August 13, 1993                   TAG: 9309240348
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Almena Hughes
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

HOT ENOUGH FOR YOU?

Everybody knows somebody for whom no hot sauce is ever hot enough. For them, no habanero holds enough heat, no chile is amply caliente, and no datil will ever do. Alas, the insatiable pepperhead wanders through life - tongue singed, eyes watering - seeking the ultimate tonsil-torching thrill.

Well, salvation may have arrived in the "Mo Hotta - Mo Betta" catalog: a compilation of products dedicated to burning the beeGEE!sus out of the most blase tastebuds. "Mo Hotta" co-owner Wendy Eidson says her husband, Tim, was the heat freak who ignited the idea of starting their San Luis Obispo, Calif.-based business four years ago.

Evidently, hot stuff is hot.

According to Amal Naj, author of "Peppers - A Story of Hot Pursuits," roughly 25 percent of the world's population is hooked on heat. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that between 1980 and 1992, Americans' per-capita consumption of fresh chili peppers rose from 3.5 pounds to 6.5 pounds. And, Eidson says, every February, Albuquerque, N.M.-based "Chile Pepper" magazine sponsors a Fiery Foods Show in that city.

The "Mo Hotta" catalog, from its cover art spoofing the Baroque classic "The Triumph of Pan," through its tongue-in-cheek copy, is delightfully entertaining. Products are rated for "hotness" on the Scoville heat scale, based on the number of units of water needed to dilute a pepper's heat. Product names often refer to hell and madness. My personal favorite: "I Am On Fire - Ready to Die!"

If you harbor a burning desire to find something hot enough to freeze a firebrand's lips before he or she can smirk, "This ain't so hot," call for a free catalog at (800) 462-3220.

by CNB