Photo by Chris Chen.

Dish of the Week: Hot pepper fail and ice cream chaser

Coming up on the long weekend, we’re taking a break from the usual dish of the week. But rather than laziness, you can chalk it up to this DCist being a total moron. The new Whole Foods in Friendship Heights has a selection of all natural agave-based paletas, which were going to be part of the original dish of the week. I was planning on sampling some for this week’s feature.

Everyone knows that an essential part of the Whole Foods shopping experience is free samples. Having sampled some pickles last week, I wanted to try more. Well, today’s mix featured hot peppers as well as cucumbers. In the mix were some cute little orange peppers, and I popped one in my mouth. For the more pepper knowledgable among you, you’re probably gasping — because you realize they’re habaneros, about 100 times hotter than a jalapeño.

Before consumption I had thought, “who puts out habaneros on a sampler plate?” Apparently, the Whole Foods in Friendship Heights, that’s who! I notified them to pull them, so hopefully no one else does the same.

Of course, the start was pleasant enough. But as sweat started to pour from every pore on my head, I realized I made a grave mistake. Naturally, my eyes scanned for any fatty option to help counter the intense heat. A small sample of coffee helped clear the spicy oils and capsaicin from my mouth. Unfortunately, that doesn’t do the same for one’s stomach. I started worrying if I was going to be one of those morons who has to be taken to the hospital for participating in a buffalo wing challenge; I kind of wanted to die.