franja

about me

I love to cook for people. There is nothing nicer to me than empty plates!

Favorite Foods:

I loved medium spiced food; though my family were real "Chilli Heads". So I tried to produce meals that gave THEM their 'hit' without blowing MY head off!

Though - the more I cook the 'hot stuff' the more tolerant my palate seems to be to it.

Research says that:

Scientists have been investigating how the body responds to chillies. In the mouth, lips, throat, tongue and nasal cavity, capsaicin binds to the membrane at the ends of nerve cells, specifically sensory neurons, where it is recognised by a specific protein (a sensory receptor) located in the membrane. They believe that this protein (TRPV1) is important in the detection of noxious stimuli, including abrasion, heat, acids, and vanilloids. TRPV1 provides a channel for Ca2+ ions. When activated by a stimulus, the channel allows Ca2+ ions into the sensory nerve cell and this causes a signal to be sent to the pain-processing centres in the brain.2 The fact that capsaicinoids bind to the receptor that responds to a thermal stimulus explains why chillies are ‘hot’. The ‘hot’ response releases endorphins in the brain, which have pain-relieving properties similar to opiates. Maybe this is why people get addicted to curries?

Need I say more?

http://