Every August, the local pizza shop with national acclaim, Flying Pie Pizzeria, offers something legendary:  the Habanero Pizza.

Colleague Kevin Selmasska and I journeyed to the Flying Pie to test this pizza out.  We had three options:  The Single Habanero pizza (which contains 6 Habanero peppers, the equivalent of 5 lbs. of Jalapenos), the Double Habanero (12 peppers), or the Triple Habanero (18 peppers – equivalent to 15 lbs. of Jalapenos!).

Since this was our first time trying something this hot, we opted for a large Single Habanero pizza:

I embraced my first bite with trepidation.  Kevin threw caution to the wind and added some additional red pepper flakes.

Of course, I immediately had to do the same.

Taking a drink of water was a bad idea:  It moves the capsaicin (the stuff in chili peppers that makes them hot) all around the mouth.  So, instead of a just a burning tongue, it now burns everywhere.  Luckily, the pain subsided quickly.  I didn’t drink any additional water, and Kevin wisely refrained from drinking any either.

The taste of the pizza was actually very good.  It had chicken, feta cheese, fresh garlic, cheddar cheese, and mozzarella cheese.  The habaneros had a smoky, citrus flavor that was quite delicious.  Surprisingly, although very hot, the taste of the pizza was not drowned out by the heat.  The whole “user experience” was an enjoyable one!

Our comment cards eventually shared our praise and “a few pictures that are worth a thousand words…”

Kevin and I left surprised that we did as well as we did and made a pact that within the next two weeks, we would try the Triple Habanero.

If we are still alive, perhaps I will post about that experience too.

UPDATE! Two weeks later Kevin and I tackled the dreaded Triple Habanero pizza. Check out the post here.