Auckland-made Gringo Killer chilli sauce is so hot even its creator won't eat it - but dozens of food lovers braved the burning sensation at Auckland's Food Show yesterday.
Margaret Dagger is the creator of Gringo Killer ("gringo" is a Mexican term for white man). She said she grew one of the world's hottest chillies, Bhut jolokia, in her Titirangi backyard and whipped the hot produce into a sauce called Bhutt Burn.
"I mix it with onion, garlic and roast capsicums, which I roast myself at home, so it has three times the ingredients to give it flavour," Dagger said.
The medicinal herbalist, who uses natural products for healing purposes, creates the sauces in her kitchen wearing gloves, a face mask and swimming goggles because the chilly fumes are so potent.
Natalie Knight, a quantity surveyor from Remuera, said it took about five seconds before a wave of intense heat hit her body after sampling Bhutt Burn.
