Chile and I

      One day, in a land far far away (Mexico) I fell madly in love with chile (the Mexican word for spice.)
      It wasn't always paradise though. From my day of birth I despised spicy food. I simply couldn't handle anything but Ketchup. During this time I lived in sunny Compton, California. I was oblivious to the fact that there were other condiments that could excite my taste buds.

The abuela that made it all possible
and I (Summer 2010.)

      Then one day I moved to a Magical Town (yes, that's it's official title as of 2011) called El Teul de Gonzalez Ortega, Zacatecas, Mexico. The town has a long name but is inhabited by few. Fortunately I graced them with my presence when I was 5-years-old.

A combination of Takis,
cucumbers, lime, Salsa Valentina and Tajin.

      Getting use to living in a different country was hard, but getting use to the food was the most challenging part. One day my abuela (grandmother) made me gorditas de frijoles which are basically thick tortillas stuffed with beans. Sounds harmless right? Well my sneaky abuela mixes the beans with chile de cola de rata (a flaming spice that is called rat tail.) According to her there is no hotter spice.
      Needless to say I cried when my mouth started burning as if thousands of fire ants were having a parade. But something happened, the flavor captivated me. It was all down hill from there.
      Now I create my own mix of spicy ingredients and I hope to step it up to the next level with this challenge.