Chili: Weapon of Mass Destruction?
It looks like Chili can get you in trouble over in Merry Ol’ England. This comes to us from Sky News.
Red Hot Chilli Sauce Sparks Chemical Alert
Updated: 11:37, Wednesday October 03, 2007
A Thai restaurant has been cordoned off by police after its extra-hot homemade chilli sauce was mistaken for a chemical outbreak.Streets were closed outside the Thai Cottage in London’s Soho theatre and nightlife district on Monday night.
The precautions followed a chemical alert in the venue’s kitchen.
“Somebody smelled what they thought was chemicals. So we went there, cordoned it off and assisted the fire brigade,” said a police spokesman.
The ambulance service dispatched a Hazardous Area Response Team unit following the alarm.
Firefighters dressed in special suits smashed down the doors to discover the source of the smell - chef Chalemchai Tangjariyapoon’s fiery signature nam prik pao chilli sauce.
Its creator was baffled by the commotion.
“I was making a spicy dip with extra-hot chillis that are deliberately burnt. To us, it smells like burnt chilli and it is slightly unusual,” the chef told The Times.
“I can understand why people who weren’t Thai would not know what it was.
“But it doesn’t smell like chemicals.”
