I can't top that.  The thai ones merely cause a bout of involuntary
screaming followed by 48 hour sphincter burn.  Delicious.

Lady R returned from a visiting a friend in Sth Lanarks. last year
with a pair from a local butcher - excellent.  Sainsbury's this year -
hopeless.  Would you recommend the veg type?  The flavour must surely
be a distant cousin?

I lived in the U. S. state famed for its unique Mexican cooking, so
dependent on chile peppers that many locals won't even stoop to eat
"Mexican" cooking when on travel outside the state. They put locally
grown, fresh, roasted chiles in almost anything, from eggs to grits to
ice cream to jelly. Its state vegetable is the chile, and its state
question is "red or green?" (Google it!) -- the first thing any waitress
asks when we order a Mexican food meal there, referring, of course, to
one's preference for red or green "chile sauce" ladled over so many
dishes there. Newbies get soaked in sweat eating in restaurants there,
and keep coming back like cats licking cat food off a 9V battery's twin
terminals.

The state is New Mexico, and its cancer incidence for All Races
(includes Hispanic), Both Sexes, All Cancer Sites, and All Ages is
reported by the NCI as --  ta daaa -- *the* lowest in the nation,
according to the NCI.

OTOH . . . I lived in the area for decades, ate chiles up to jalapeno
level like popcorn and *hot* salsa by the cupful a few days a week, and
still came down with two unrelated cancers, prostate and carcinoid
colon. Go figure.

Albuquerque has an annual fiery foods show that fills a large coliseum,
with scores, maybe hundreds, of booths waiting to impress you. Some aim
for flavor, others compete for heat by seeing how far they can take the
Scoville count by condensing habanero peppers. One vendor was banned
after patrons required medical care, as I almost did, for real. Why?
Because we had dipped the tip of a toothpick into the sauce, shaken it
clean, and touched our tongues to it. No joke.

Instead of mainstream tx? No way. But maybe there's something to it, I
can think of no food component tastier than green chiles, and they're
exceedingly healthy food by many measures.

I.P.