Red jalapenos give rooster sauce its heat; they clock in at about 5,000 Scoville units, or around 300 parts per million of mouth-burning capsaicinoids. These molecules bind to a receptor, TRPV1, that shows up on the ends of nerves that lead to the trigeminal nerve, which conveys touch, temperature, and pain. The sulfur-based molecules that give garlic its stink activate another trigem-inal receptor, TRPA1, the same protein behind wasabi's tingle. Garlic seems to be intertwined with capsaicin: People born without heat-sensing TRPV1 can't feel cap-saicin's burn, but they're also hypersensitive to garlic.
展开▼
