Salsa rocks and it can give a big kick to any dish, adding just a little hot sauce to even the most bland dishes can really make them shine. So what is it about salsa that makes it so good and gives it the burn? Well really it is pretty simple. Let me give you a brief overview of the functionality of the pepper.
First you have to gobble down some salsa with capsaicin, this is the irritant that is in the peppers that causes the burn. When the capsaicin hit your mouth, the burning sensation is caused by an irritation of a cell called the trigeminal cell. Didn’t realize there was actually science to this did you? These cells send the sensation of pain to your brain. This irritation causes them to release release a substance called P, science can be simple. This is what tells the brain, “Hott!” Regular exposure to capsaicin depletes the nerve ending of P, this will lead to desensitization, meaning that you can’t taste the rest of your food. Because your taste buds regenerate your taste sensation will return but tolerance to capsaicin will remain higher than before. It is possible to totally kill of taste buds despite their regenerative properties but it would be very difficult. We would be talking about eating industrial grade pepper spray, which is nothing more than capsaicin concentrate and something like a couple of hundred times hotter than a Habanero.
Now that you know how capsaicin works you probably don’t want to eat too much of it. It is good that most companies put warnings on salsa containers rating the hotness of a particular hot sauce. If you are a stranger to salsa I would suggest starting low and working your way up the Scoville scale to a point that is just above your pain threshold. As we mentioned above your taste buds will develop a tolerance to the heat and you may actually start to like the intense sensation of heat and the accompanied release of endorphins.
Salsa can be a great addition to cooking but it is important that you learn how to use hot sauce safely and effectively. Realize that not everyone shares your love for something that can cause so much pain.