Sweet vs Spicy: Fighting Flavors

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Valentine’s Day is almost here and we’ve got an intense flavor battle for all our favorite Eyewirers.  Whether you have a sweet tooth or you like to keep things spicy, there’s something for everyone.

 

Sweet

Did you know?

  • The sweetener lugduname has been estimated to be between 220,000 and 300,000 times as sweet as sucrose (table sugar), and it one of the most potent known sweeteners.  It has not yet been approved for use in foods.
  • Felids, including domestic cats, cannot taste sugar at all!  That’s probably why they have such an attitude all the time.
  • The plant proteins miraculin and curculin cause sour foods to taste sweet. After exposure to these proteins sourness is perceived as sweetness for up to an hour.

 

Spicy

Did you know?

  • Farmers in Wales may have bred the world’s hottest pepper in 2017.  It’s called “Dragon’s Breath” and it measures 2.48 million on the Scoville heat scale, a widely used standard to measure the concentration of capsaicin.
  • While taste nerves are activated when consuming foods like chili peppers, the sensation commonly interpreted as “hot” results from the stimulation of somatosensory fibers in the mouth.
  •  Pungency is the technical term used by scientists to refer to the characteristic of food commonly called “spiciness” or “hotness” or “heat”.

The usual bonuses

Earn 5,000 points – 2,500 bonus
Earn 15,000 points – 5,000 bonus
Earn 25,000 points – 10,000 bonus
For every 25,000 points above 25,000 – 5,000 bonus
Member of winning team (if you’ve scored at least 2,500 points) – 10,000 bonus
Highest scorer on each team – 5,000 bonus
Player with #1 overall score – 10,000 bonus
Player with #2 overall score – 5,000 bonus
Player with #3 overall score – 2,500 bonus

Artwork by Daniela Gamba