Guatemalan Insanity Pepper
The Merciless Pepper of Quetzalacatenango, also known as the Guatemalan Insanity Pepper, is a very hot type of pepper that Chief Wiggum served in his chili at Springfield's Annual Chili Cook-Off.
History
Homer attended the Cook-Off and sampled several different people's chilis, disdainfully critiquing them, and then arrived at Chief Wiggum's booth. Wiggum announced that for Homer, he had prepared an especially spicy concoction containing "The Merciless Peppers of Quetzalacatenango … grown deep in the jungle primeval by the inmates of a Guatemalan insane asylum." The peppers were so hot that Wiggum handled them only with tongs, and donned a welder's protective mask and gloves when he stirred his chili.
Homer's first attempt at eating the pepper gave him a burned tongue that was only cured by drinking lots of water, and he also came very close to breaking his promise to Marge about not drinking beer during the Cook-Off. While downing glass after glass of water, Homer nearly drank a candle, which gave him an idea: He swished the candle wax around the inside of his mouth, coating it and his tongue with wax, and then returned to Wiggum's booth.
Now protected by the candle wax, Homer was able to gulp down several Quetzalacatenangoes on his second attempt, shocking the crowd. However, shortly thereafter, he ended up experiencing a bad stomachache, followed by hallucinations to the point of psychosis. When a coyote appeared in Homer's hallucination as his spirit guide and told him there was a lesson he needed to learn, Homer immediately—but incorrectly—concluded that the coyote meant "laying off the insanity peppers".
Trivia
- "Quetzal" is a Central American bird and the currency of Guatemala.
- "Quetzalcoatl" was an Aztec deity.
- "Tenango" means "land of" in the Quiché language.
- Acatenango is a volcano in Guatemala.
- Quetzaltenango, also known as "Xela," is the second-largest city in Guatemala.
