01x01 - Chile

[bunniefuu]

[Redzepi] We are what we eat.

This is the oldest and

truest recipe I know of.

By that measure,

I'm a bushel of blackberries picked as

a child in the meadows of Macedonia.

I'm also wild garlic,

foraged as a young chef

from the forest floor

along the coast of Denmark.

I'm a pinch of salt

skimmed from distant tides,

powered by the mineral that has

shaped society for millennia.

- [people chattering]

- [utensils clanking]

All of these bites have brought me here,

to noma, my restaurant in Copenhagen,

where I've spent the last 20

years on a journey with my team

to learn everything we can about

the ingredients that feed us.

But ingredients do

more than feed us.

They bind and divide us.

They decipher and define us.

They fuel economies,

power politics,

and unlock hidden truths about

who we are and where we're going.

This is the story

of everyday items

that have changed the world in ways

most of us have never considered.

Add them all up, and you

get a recipe for humanity.

[speaking Spanish]

[in English] At the heart of

that recipe, is an ingredient

that forever burned in my mind

the transformative powers of food,

and that's where

this journey begins.

When I was growing

up in Macedonia,

I remember the men in our village

that carried chile in their pockets.

We'd gather around the

table for long feasts,

and in between bites of

roast chicken and rice,

they'd take tiny nibbles

from the spicy peppers.

I was captivated by

this strange ingredient

and how something so

small can be so powerful.

It felt like a gateway to a

world I knew nothing about.

For years afterwards,

I dreamed of chile.

What would it do to me?

What mysteries would this

strange ingredient unravel?

What waited for me on the other

end of that first taste

- [high-pitched squeal]

- of chile?

Chiles were born here in the

Amazon basin millions of years ago.

Beautiful and seductive as chiles may

be, they probably sting for a reason.

To keep hungry animals from

destroying the precious seeds inside.

[roars]

One of nature's genius designs.

The animal world responded

and left chiles alone.

Well, not all animals.

Birds.

The only species impervious

to the burn of capsaicin.

The other animal, us. Humans.

Mobile, resourceful and

gluttons for punishment.

In the beaks of birds

and the bellies of boats,

chile spread from its birthplace

in the Amazon across the planet.

In 1493, Columbus returned

with tidings of a new world

and a handful of pepper plants.

By the 1500s,

the Portuguese brought chiles to the

Far East and changed food forever.

Five hundred years later,

and this spicy fruit has

become part of our identity.

A taste of what it

means to be human,

to experience pain in

pursuit of pleasure,

to always push our limits.

How hot is a chile pepper?

Dr. Wilbur Scoville wanted

to know back in 1912,

so he diluted the

chiles with sugar-water

and counted how many drops it

took before the burn went away.

This became the method for

measuring the heat in all chiles.

The Scoville scale.

This is a trip from the mildest

foothills to the spiciest peaks

where every stop reveals

a new layer of heat,

a new relationship to spice,

and a new dimension of us.

The Serbian string pepper,

commonly used to make paprika,

is part of the most ubiquitous

species of chiles, Capsicum annuum.

At just 250 Scoville units,

this mild, fruity pepper is

more of a kiss than a bite.

[chattering]

- [forklift beeping]

- [chattering continues]

In the heart of Serbia,

not far from the dinner table

where I first discovered chile,

you'll find a place where

peppers dominate daily life.

The village is called

Donja Lokošnica,

and each of its 1,200 citizens

produce an average of three

tons of paprika peppers a year.

Dried in great, red theater curtains

on every sun-exposed surface in town.

For the people of this

tight-knit community,

paprika is not a powder that

gathers dust in the pantry,

but a vibrant spice that colors their

identity and powers their survival.

[citizen, in Serbian] The people

from Lokošnica can't imagine

life without the string pepper.

WELCOME TO THE

KINGDOM OF PAPRIKA

The pepper is the best

here in Lokošnica.

We gave our seeds

to other villages.

The string pepper

couldn't grow there.

I don't know why.

Maybe this land is somewhat

special. Maybe it's the climate.

[chuckles] Something

has to be special.

Let's get another one.

[Suzana] Women usually

do the stringing.

Men know how to do

it, but they don't.

It's too hard for them.

[laughs] My right

shoulder still hurts.

We use garlands to

dry our peppers.

We string it traditionally.

The pepper business is more

than a full-time job. [chuckles]

So, we don't stop.

The main producers are Marina and Boban.

They are my daughter and son-in-law.

Tell Boban he can unload it

now. There's enough space.

They are in charge.

And my grandson Danijel

works with them too.

Shake it a little.

[Marina] Every generation

of my family were farmers.

My grandfather, father and

others were all involved.

So I'm going to

continue it as well.

[Danijel] I started working with my

family when I was in eighth grade.

I help them as much as I can.

It's not easy.

[Marina] My husband, older son,

and I are always in the field.

We are busy around the clock.

[tractor departs]

[relative speaks indistinctly]

Should we roast some more?

[chattering continues]

[chile producer] I

was born into peppers.

I've spent my whole life with peppers,

and I make a living from peppers.

I have to learn how to do this.

You will learn, but first you have

to get rid of those long nails.

Ooh.

[chile producer] As the saying goes,

I was raised on peppers and lard.

[Dejan] There are stories that the

pepper came from South America

and they left it to be handed down

from generation to generation.

[chattering]

[Dejan] Sometimes we

do stuffed peppers,

or minced, or we grind

them up for barbecue.

[relative] The pot has to go on

the stove so we can fry ajvar.

[relatives speak Serbian]

[Dejan] We worry deeply about

the next 15 to 20 years.

Young people are not keen on

doing agriculture in general.

They are getting other jobs.

Year after year, we

have fewer producers.

[relative 2] Should

I add sugar and salt?

[relative 1] Yes, add them.

[relative 2 muttering]

- It's delicious.

- [all laughing]

This is so good.

- [laughing] Amazing.

- [speaks Serbian]

- Let's eat.

- [chattering]

Good ajvar

[engine turns off]

[Marina] Young people are leaving

and going to work in companies.

Farming is tough, physical work.

And the profit is small.

They don't want to farm anymore.

They would rather

work in business.

[Danijel] Most of my

peers would never do this.

I've also tried to

work in a company.

But it was just not for me.

[Redzepi, in English] This is a

critical moment in our food system.

As small family growers struggle

to compete with industrial farms,

Danijel's generation

will be the one to decide

the fate of some of our

most important ingredients

and treasured traditions.

[Marina, in Serbian] My son has a

genuine interest in agriculture.

It's never difficult

for him to work.

I am really glad for him to

stay if that's what he wants.

I told him, "It will be your

decision, and we'll support you."

He will choose his destiny.

[machine whirring]

[Dejan] This pepper

is of superb quality,

and it would be a shame

if we don't preserve it.

[announcer] Ladies

and gentlemen,

dear guests from the

villages and from afar,

welcome to the Sixteenth

Paprika Day Festival.

This day is dedicated to one of the

most famous vegetables in the region:

the renowned Leskovac

paprika pepper.

[group singing in Serbian]

[announcer] For centuries,

this village has kept the ancient

recipe of cultivation alive

and produces the juiciest and

healthiest paprika in the world.

[singing continues]

[Dejan] We've joined together

to improve the

quality and quantity,

and above all to struggle less

and live longer. [chuckles]

[singing continues]

[Danijel] I believe that

this is better for me.

I'd like to continue what my

family has been doing for years.

[singing ends]

[Redzepi, in English]

In its purest form,

the tiny, shiny tabasco pepper

hits at 50,000 Scoville units.

This is a force to

be reckoned with.

And yet most people will

only taste the tabasco pepper

in its milder liquid form.

[tools clanking]

[chattering]

[farmer] Y'all ready?

- Y'all ready?

- [farmer] Yeah, let's go then.

[archivist] If somebody started off making

a rival sauce today using our method,

they would not be able to sell

any sauce for about five years.

[farmer 2] Aw, no. Actually, we

didn't pick this little piece.

[archivist] As we say, from seed

to sauce it takes five years.

That includes the three

year aging process.

It's a time-honored tradition,

and we're not just saying that.

[Redzepi] I grew up

between Macedonia

and one of the least spicy

countries in the world, Denmark.

Love it or loathe it, for many years

Tabasco was the only game in town.

A gateway to a spicier world.

I doubt anyone had a clue about the

source of this mysterious red sauce.

This is the story of the family

and their 150-year-old recipe

from a southern Louisiana salt marsh

that helped set the world on fire.

It takes a very special

island A very special sun ♪

And some very special

peppers To make the one ♪

Tabasco, Tabasco ♪

The original liquid

pepper seasoning ♪

[commercial narrator] Some people think

that Tabasco means every pepper sauce,

which just isn't the case.

There is only one Tabasco,

the original liquid pepper sauce

made at Avery Island, Louisiana.

[Shane] So, Edmund McIlhenny,

the inventor of Tabasco,

uh, kept meticulous

records by nature.

This is one of two notebooks containing

memos about his outgoing mail.

Well, one of these, right here,

to Hugh Auchincloss in New York

City on January 18th, 1868,

it says, "thanking him for

a lens for my microscope,

and sending him a bottle of

my Tabasco pepper sauce,"

you know, as a token of thanks.

That's the earliest known

reference to Tabasco sauce by name.

The family tradition is that

Edmund, after the Civil w*r,

he comes back to the island, we think

he starts tending the family garden.

And knowing that peppers spoil

pretty quickly once you pick them,

you have to grind them and mix

them with a little bit of salt,

or-or they're spoiled.

So we think that he did that,

plus he added some vinegar.

It's the same way that

you create sauerkraut.

He started making this pepper

sauce for the family table.

Around 1890, you see the company

getting bigger and bigger and bigger.

We're in 195 countries and

territories around the world.

We're in 35 languages

and dialects.

Unlike a lot of

other iconic brands,

Tabasco is still made by

the family of its inventor.

[commercial narrators] Tabasco.

Tabasco ♪

[Shane] Today, we allow the

pepper mash to ferment naturally.

It's aged for up to three years.

And that fermentation process really

kicks into high gear in the summer.

We want the warehouses over a hundred

degrees out there in the summer,

because that really kick-starts

the fermentation process.

It really mellows the

flavor of the mash.

And then it's ready

for the next stage.

[bubbling]

[worker] The smell was-was the

toughest part to get used to.

So that was a lot of, like, runny

nose, red eyes when you goin' home.

So I guess over time, you

I guess Tabasco kinda

goes in your blood.

I don't get those specks

anymore, my nose don't run.

Red sauce, I would say, is

kind of like a fine wine.

The art of it is

the aging process.

That's what separates us

from a lot of other people.

And, you know, in our world,

and everybody wants it fast

to sit back and, uh,

wait to make it perfect

for the customer and for our

families that's eating it,

is pretty unique.

You can't rush the process.

You can't make it go faster.

The mash tell you

when it's ready.

When you walk into the building

and you see us skimming

and making Tabasco sauce,

it's not rushed. There's

a art to doing it.

Every barrel is touched.

Every barrel is taken care of.

Every barrel is checked. Each barrel

has to go through each person's hands

to make sure it-it gets done.

[machines humming]

[Nuk] Our CEO too,

he comes through

and he, uh, inspects the

barrels every morning.

We'll walk through all

96 barrels every day.

[Harold] Part of my job

and part of every CEO's job

has been to go down and inspect

the mash before we make sauce.

It's hard to explain 'cause

when you tell so much,

when you stick that

scoop down into the mash

and you lift it up, and you-you

smell it. It's so quick, like you

There are so many different

notes that you're looking for.

You know, this is oaky, this

is woody, this is green,

this is fresh, this is yeasty.

[machine beeps]

[Nuk] Tabasco is not meant to take

away from what you're cooking.

[machine beeps]

It's meant to see you For you to

still have your voice through your food,

but we just make it louder.

[clanking]

[Redzepi] No migrating

bird, no Portuguese explorer

has influenced chile's world dominance

as much as the rise of hot sauces.

For hundreds of years, disparate

cultures across the globe

have been pounding and puréeing

chiles into flavor enhancers.

But the past few

decades have seen

the transformation of hot sauce

culture into an arms race,

flooding our pantries with

hotter and hotter expressions

of this fiery Amazonian fruit.

[sneezes]

The appeal is obvious.

Hot sauce allows anyone

to be a cook at the table.

Dabbing, painting or soaking each

bite in concentrated blasts of spice.

Tabasco.

[Nuk] When you get that

bottle in your hand,

and you know you done had

a part in making that,

that people love not only in your

own community but in the whole world,

is a pretty humbling

feeling to have.

That you was a part of something that

goes all over the world that people love.

[Redzepi] Don't be fooled by this

unassuming fruit, Prik Kee Noo.

At 100,000 Scoville units,

this little pepper

packs the kind of spice

that blurs the line

between pleasure and pain.

Few cuisines burn hotter

than the food of Bangkok.

And few chefs know more about the

power of capsaicin than Prin Polsuk.

A quiet giant from the north of Thailand

who conquered the kitchens of Bangkok

cooking some of the spiciest

dishes on the planet.

A man possessed by

the powers of chile.

None more than this

tiny time b*mb,

Prik Kee Noo, the

"Mouse sh*t Pepper."

[sniffs]

The chile at the

heart of it all.

[engine starts]

[tires screech]

This is a love story between

a country boy and a city girl.

An unlikely love forged in the

flames of a shared chile obsession.

On nights off, Prin and his

wife Mint play a dangerous game,

chase the chile.

A restaurant crawl

across the city

in search of some of the

spiciest dishes they can find.

[Prin, in Thai] Mint

is from Bangkok.

I'm a son of farmers.

Given where I'm from, I never

thought I'd meet someone like her.

What makes us see

each other is food.

[Mint] When I first

met him, I thought,

"Hey, is this the famous chef

everyone's talking about?"

[laughs]

But when I saw him, I thought, "He looks

like a football player or something."

Once he started talking, the words that

came out of his mouth made me think,

"Hey, this guy is actually

very interesting."

Everything he said

synced with my heartbeat.

[chattering]

- We're here. Thank you.

- [driver] Thank you.

- [Mint] Let's go.

- [Prin] Thank you.

[Mint] Auntie Moo.

- [Moo] Yes, hello.

- [Mint] Good evening.

- How are you, Auntie?

- [Moo] I'm fine, honey. Feeling great.

- [Moo speaks Thai]

- Can I sit here?

- What would you like to eat?

- [Prin speaks Thai]

- What should we eat in the rain?

- [scoffs]

- It's raining, we should drink beer.

- Rain brings bad people together.

[Moo, Prin speak Thai]

- You have eel, please cook it.

- [Moo] All right. Will do.

- [Mint] And deep-fried frog with garlic.

- Yes.

- Snakehead entrail Tom Yum?

- [Moo speaks Thai]

[Mint speaks Thai]

- [Prin] Make it spicy too.

- [Moo speaks Thai]

You should use more

chile than eel.

[Mint, Prin laugh]

[Prin] Can I help you?

Please.

[Prin] Make it so

spicy that I sneeze.

So extreme.

[Moo] As you wish. Mmm.

[Prin] Auntie Moo's place is

not like a restaurant to me.

[Moo] Mm-hmm.

[Prin] She reminds me of my

grandmother from when I was young.

Okay. Smells so good.

[Moo] Now let's sprinkle

some hot chiles on here.

And some very

delicious peppercorn.

Here is our restaurant's signature

dish: stir-fried eel with chile.

- [chuckles]

- [Prin] Ooh.

- [Mint] Looks yummy.

- [Moo speaks Thai]

[Moo] Smell good?

- [Prin] Nice smell.

- [Moo] Okay, try it, kids.

- We can eat now, right?

- [Prin] Let's try it. [Laughs]

- [Mint] Let's try.

- [Prin] Here is its head.

- [Mint speaks Thai]

- Mmm.

[Prin, Mint] Mmm.

[Moo] Are the chiles okay?

Very delicious.

- [Prin] Spicy, spicy, spicy.

- [grunts]

- Is it spicy?

- Yes.

[blows]

[Prin speaks Thai]

- Cheers.

- Cheers.

- [Mint speaks Thai]

- [Prin] Thank you.

It is said that when

we eat spicy food,

once the heat passes

we will be happy.

- Mm-hmm.

- True, isn't it?

- It's true.

- [grunts]

- [Prin] Like having sex.

- [laughing]

So naughty.

- Really?

- [Prin] Yes.

Ah.

[laughs]

[engine starts, revs]

[Redzepi, in English] My first time in

Thailand was a shock to my taste buds.

I'd never experienced food

so consistently spicy.

But in a country filled

with bold flavors,

the food from Isaan in Thailand's

northeastern corner stands out.

It's pungent, full of acidity,

powerful, alive with capsaicin.

Eating Isaan cuisine is

a full contact sport.

Not the kind of food most would consider

safe territory for a first date.

[chattering]

[Prin, in Thai] Our first

date was not fine dining.

I wanted to take her out

to Isaan street food.

The restaurant was

on the roadside.

But I was afraid she

wouldn't like Isaan food.

[Prin] Okay. We're here.

[chattering]

Thank you, sir. [Grunts]

- [Mint] Good evening.

- [Prin] Hello, hello. Hi.

[speaking Thai]

What should we have?

Papaya salad?

[all speaking Thai]

Bitter raw meat, spicy salad like

before and roasted meat. Okay.

[Prin speaks Thai]

[Mint speaks Thai]

[Mint] Now chile has become

part of our eating experience.

And it all started right here.

- Here it comes.

- Oh.

Thank you.

- [Mint] Thank you.

- This is great.

[chattering]

[Prin] On our first date,

I couldn't believe it.

Mint was eating larb with raw

meat, blood and everything.

Right then, I was

like, "I love her."

[laughing]

[chattering]

- [exclaims] Whoa.

- [Mint chuckles]

[groans, chuckles]

Is it that bad?

[all laughing]

Whoo!

- Cheers! [Laughs]

- [laughs]

[engine starts, revs]

[Redzepi, in English] Bite by bite, burn

by burn, they build a world together.

Including tonight's last

stop Samrub Samrub Thai,

Prin and Mint's new restaurant.

A chile-stained love letter to

the ancient cuisine of Thailand.

[people chattering]

- [in Thai] Hi, everyone!

- Hi.

- [friend] Hey! Hello.

- [friend 2] Hello.

[laughing, chattering]

I'm going to cook jungle

curry for everyone. [Chuckles]

[friend 3] Make it spicy please.

- Spicy?

- [friend 3] Yes, very spicy.

- Do you really want something spicy?

- [laughs] Very spicy. Yeah.

- I'll go cook.

- [friend chattering]

[grunts]

The first ingredient

for me is always chile.

But how spicy?

Spicy with fun? Or

spicy to be hated?

[in English] Oh, that's spicy.

[speaks Thai]

[in Thai] Chiles

make everything

have more dimension.

Pound chiles for me, please.

Pounded chiles. It's

not spicy enough.

The more we use spice,

the more we add sweetness.

The more we add salt.

The more we add other tastes

like bitterness and astringents.

Everything is for

balancing that spicy taste.

[Prin speaks Thai]

[Mint] Chiles are a main

ingredient in all our food.

We put chiles in

almost every dish

except for dessert. [laughs]

[chattering, laughing]

Somebody always cries,

and somebody makes

fun of their friend.

[blows, groaning]

[laughing]

[sighs]

[Mint] People don't hide

anything. They show themselves.

- [friend speaks Thai]

- Crying.

[Mint] I feel that it helps break

the ice and drop people's ego.

[in English] I know

you want a lot of g*ng.

It's the last one ever.

I keep I keep some.

[Prin, in Thai] What I'm

doing now with my food

is connecting people.

- [speaks Thai]

- [friend chuckling]

I want people to go

home with happiness.

That's all I want.

[Redzepi, in English] Months ago, I

planted chile seeds as an experiment.

The Bhut Orange Copenhagen, a

variation of the ghost pepper,

is the spiciest thing

we've ever grown at noma.

At 800,000 Scoville units,

these are part of a class of

chiles known as the superhots.

The spiciest

ingredients on earth.

This is uncharted territory.

Where each bite pushes us beyond

what we once thought was possible.

When I look at these

chiles in front of me now,

and I know they are crazy spicy,

I-I get a childish fear again.

Like, I don't want it, but the same

time I'm also like, can I take it?

Can I actually do this?

I mean, it is daunting to think

that this tiny, little thing,

if you're not used to it, can

give you a lot of pain. [laughs]

It's scary.

And then with each Scoville

level you get to master,

you also get to

enjoy the flavor.

And you just get even

more addicted to spice.

Chile kind of takes

over your mind.

[chuckling] Hey, maybe they're

taking over us right now.

Slowly but surely,

it's a long-term plan.

"Chile's saying, "Hey, uh, let's

get the humans addicted to this,

so we'll survive and we'll be

planted all over the world."

At noma, every moment, every technique,

every ingredient is carefully considered.

But the hottest chiles

are the opposite.

Raw and untamed, they force

us to let our guard down,

to tap into something

deeper inside of us.

[people chattering]

I've always wondered

what would happen

if you served one of the

world's hottest peppers at noma.

If only for a night.

[sighs] Kenneth, it's

time for service.

- Meeting!

- [staff] Yes!

[Redzepi sighs, chuckles]

Good evening, everyone.

[staff] Good evening.

Thanks for a fantastic

Saturday service.

Uh, I'm so happy to say that this is

the last week of the vegetarian season.

For the last week,

I thought we'd bring in a little surprise

for our guests and for ourselves.

This here is called the

Bhut Orange Copenhagen,

and it's a pepper that has been

bred by a Danish man called Bjarne.

And it's hot. It's,

like, seriously hot.

It's the hottest thing that's

ever been bred in Denmark.

And, uh, I thought we'd serve

it for the guests tonight.

But before that, I think we

should taste it. [Chuckles]

[sighs] And, um, yeah

Because how can we have something

our guests are gonna try

that we haven't tried?

This is gonna be spicy, like

seriously, seriously hot.

Forget about that

jalapeño on your nachos.

- This is a different league.

- [all chuckling]

Yeah, so if you're not really up for

it, don't worry about it. Just smell it.

But if you're up for it,

I really think that,

uh, we're in for a ride.

So, go ahead.

[inhales deeply]

Grab yourself a chile. [Sighs]

[staff chattering]

Go ahead. [Chuckles]

- Everyone can do this step. [Laughs]

- [all laugh]

Everybody got a pepper?

[staff] Yes.

Oy, I'm nervous. But

- Let's have a fantastic service.

- [staff speaks Danish]

[inhales, in English] Wow.

All right. Enjoy the ride.

[staff coughing, panting]

[Redzepi] What's the spiciest

thing you've ever eaten?

- Take a moment to think about this.

- [sniffs]

Do you remember how you felt?

The detonation of

your nervous system?

- [hiccups]

- How the pain broke across your body?

The throbbing burn in your mouth

as if you swallowed a firecracker?

"Will I ever be the same,"

you begin to wonder.

[customers chattering]

How badly you wanted

to make it go away.

If you could go back to that fateful

bite, would you do it all over again?

If you're anything like

me, the answer is yes.

[groans, coughs]

- [coughs]

- Wow.

[pants]

[no audible dialogue]

[staff member] You on

Yep, yep. Table number two.

[mutters]

We have a serving of two peppers

for you. On the left-hand side

On the right-hand side,

uh, a mild grilled Padrón.

[grunts] On the left

a Copenhagen Bhut.

- Choose your weapon.

- [customer laughs]

[Redzepi] What makes us do this?

Researchers call it

benign masochism

- [gags]

- the search for discomfort.

A collision of positive

and negative feelings,

like roller-coasters and horror

movies, sad songs and Shakespeare.

We embrace the hurt.

What could be more human

than playing with fire?

How much hotter

can the world get?

- [people cheering]

- Oh, my God.

[Redzepi] There appears

to be no end in sight.

Where Where is it

Where is it burning you?

- Everywhere.

- Yeah.

[Redzepi] But the most interesting thing

about chiles isn't how they burn us.

It's how they bind us.

- [chattering]

- [utensils clattering]

They built communities, fomented w*r,

seeded revolution, aroused passions

and flooded countless brains

with a warm tide of endorphins.

Not bad, for bird food.