Numb fingers. A facial twitch or two. A little barfing. These are just a few indignities endured by the adventurous souls who have attempted the Hot as Fack challenge at Curryish Tavern so far.
For the month of August, the contemporary Indian restaurant is offering a $100 gift card to anyone who can finish their hottest curry in 10 minutes or less — no drinks allowed. Participants also have to sign a two-page waiver warning of everything from intense burning and vomiting to shortness of breath, dizziness and an increased heart rate.
Made with ghost peppers and Carolina reapers, the curry has defeated at least 32 challengers as of press time. Only seven have been triumphant, with a young woman holding the current record of three minutes and 30 seconds. “What I’ve learned in this last month is that there is a huge following of people (in Toronto) who actually love spicy food,” said Curryish Tavern owner and chef Miheer Shete.
On Monday, seven diners stepped up to the plate (or, rather, bowl). Rhain Louis is a veteran, having completed the One Chip Challenge and Maritime Madness’ One Chunk Challenge and eaten Pepper Palace’s Flatline hot sauce and Lil’ Nitro, the world’s hottest gummy bear. He corralled his buddies Derek Beaton, Tomislav Ceh and Tyler Miller into attempting it with him.
Miller started hiccupping shortly after the first bite. “The hiccups will go away,” Shete assured him. (Despite being the one who had instigated the challenge, he himself could only stomach four bites.) Once Miller’s hiccups stopped, however, the coughing began. A thick sheen of sweat glistened on his and Louis’ heads.
“What’s the dish where you put the napkin of shame over your head?” asked Beaton — a reference to the ortolan ritual, where diners cover their heads with a cloth while eating. “I need the napkin of shame.” He sat back, weeping, and pulled his shirt away from his torso to cool himself. Asked if he was contemplating life, Beaton replied tearfully, “more like death.” Ceh shoved the bowl away from him as he tapped out at four minutes, sweat speckling his T-shirt, his arms braced on the table for strength. (Later, he would throw up the little he did eat.) Beaton followed at seven minutes.
Then — victory. The spectators’ cheers crescendoed as Miller completed the challenge, licking the bowl. He finished in nine minutes, with Louis coming in a few seconds later. Asked how he felt, Miller managed only that his tongue had gone completely numb. Beaton’s face was now twitching.
Sheldon Rodrigues, Zed Garg and Shad Rafiq were up next. Rodrigues stared into the bowl, stirring the contents listlessly. “ugh, goddamn,” he muttered. “This is not meant for human consumption,” Rafiq declared. What might help him continue, one of his cheerleaders asked. “Nothing will help me but Jesus,” he said. As if angered by not one but two victories, the curry gods swiftly eliminated all three at 3:30, 6:30 and 10, respectively.
Rodrigues was soon chugging a one-litre container of two-per-cent milk one of his friends brought along. “It felt like you’re drinking boiling oil,” he said. When informed of the current record-holder’s time, Rafiq inquired whether the champion had any functioning organs left.
Challenges like these are sizzling right now, thanks to the ultra-popular Hot Ones celebrity talk show (and its imitators) and viral challenges like the One Chip Challenge — a Paqui chip coated in Carolina reaper powder that the company ultimately pulled from shelves after a teen with an underlying heart condition died after eating one.
It is ironic that Curryish Tavern hosted the challenge, given its food is on the milder side. “The team wanted to have some fun as well,” Shete said. A surprise delivery of ghost and Carolina reaper peppers from India inspired him to honour them. “The best way to showcase these chiles is actually to serve it to people who have appreciation of this chile,” he said. One of the most dramatic reactions? One challenger came close to finishing the dish … but found toward the end that his fingers had gone numb, so he couldn’t even pick up his spoon anymore.
The Star checked in with the victors for any post-consumption issues. Miller experienced strong stomach cramping and threw up, while Louis vomited once at the restaurant and twice after they left; they staggered a few blocks to Trinity Bellwoods Park where Louis lay on the grass. “A bucket of gelato helped,” Miller says. Both reported that they felt fine the next day.
Louis confirmed this produced the worst pain of any challenge he had attempted — but, he noted, he wanted to “compliment the chef for making the curry have flavour, as it’s often the case that the extremely spicy challenge foods just taste like capsaicin fire.”
Shete’s happy that people are actually enjoying the taste. “That’s the happiest part of this challenge for me,” he said. “As a chef, that means a lot.”
