Saturday, January 8, 2011

Product Review: Barcel Takis: Nitro

Many of you are familiar with Takis, a Mexican corn chip rolled like a taco. There are now several flavors, but when I first had them as an LDS missionary in México [1], there was only one flavor: fajita. Recently I discovered a new flavor while visiting a Mexican tienda: Nitro. The label on the bag touts them as a "Habanero and lime flavored corn snack".


My verdict: These were a little hotter than the fajita-flavored Takis. However, the flavor wasn't really habanero or lime. It just tasted…odd. I didn't really like them. And since I have nothing more to say about it, allow me to introduce capsaicin, the chemical compound that produces the hot sensation from chili peppers:


It triggers the heat receptors in your tongue (or eyes if you're unlucky enough to get it there), but doesn't actually burn you.[2]


Notes

[1] For those who are unsure why Latter-day Saints (Mormons) go on missions, I recommend you visit here and here, where you can learn more about LDS beliefs concerning sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you have more questions, ask and maybe I'll do a full post on the topic.

[2] Rather, the amount you're exposed to when eating even a very hot pepper won't burn you. If you're working with purified capsaicin (e.g. as an "organic" pesticide) then there is a risk of chemical burn and you should wear gloves and goggles.

Image attribution:

Capsaicin chemical structure is by Arrowsmaster, available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kapsaicyna.svg. The structures of other capsaicinoids (capsaicin-like compounds also found in chili peppers, but to a lesser degree), see here.

2 comments:

  1. yeahahh But the new takes are way better Takis Fuego

    ReplyDelete
  2. I review Takis: Fuego (and Takis: Guacamole) here.

    ReplyDelete