CHILLI OR NOT?
We Baliphiles have all had to answer this question, either in the positive or negative, during our frequent journeys to Bali and the wider Indonesia.
For the negative side we are all aware of the dire consequences of over-indulgence in the eating of fire, "ring of", morning discomfort and all the rest. It can be a nasty trap for the unwary and many's the callow lad who has been dared into a trial by fire, lived a day or more with the results and then shouts "foul" every time he sees a chilli, for the rest of his life. BTF members must have had some bad experiences which they could share with us, so let's hear from you.
For the positive side of this argument, yours truly an admitted addict, is happy to take up the cudgel.
Capsicain, the element which we love or hate, is contained mostly in the membrane holding the seeds of these vicious wee suckers.
This element is full of medicinal qualities, widely used in balms or rubs for rheumatics, full of vitamin C among others and, to use the current buzz-word,is also an anti-oxidant! Yes, it is addictive to such as we - my wife takes even more than I ! - and from time to time such is our craving that we have to, shamefully, ask our Indian or Tex-Mex waiter to bring us another helping of chilli paste.
We Westerners who travel in Asia should really consider taking chilli with our food. The problem is, in lay terms, that we are inclined to eat too much meat which takes up to 36 hours to wend its way through our intestinal system, giving it plenty of time to go bad, become infected and all the other negatives. Therefore, the very property which we most fear is the one that can, potentially , do us the most good by swiftly clearing the baddies from our intestines thus lessening the likelihood of infectious build-ups. No, I'm not a Medico, it's just what I've been told.
Contra indication : it is a widely held belief, well proven, that over-indulgence in Bintang coupled with copious ingestion of Chilli, usually leads to social ostracising because of atmospheric pollution.
My first Indonesian teacher, Mr. Donald Hesterman R.I.P., told tales from his childhood days, among the ruling Dutch elite, in Java in the 1930's and ‘40's
His uncle who was a Captain in the Army, needed to pass an exam to become a Major, at the age of 49. The Examiner who came out from Holland on a 3-year rotation, had arrived and duly carried out the examination of the applicants. Disaster struck Uncle, in the form of severe Amoebic Enteritis, which would prevent Uncle from riding his horse and marshalling his troops, as a final examination item. He was 49 and the next Rotation he would be over 50, too old for promotion.
The usual Doctors having failed to rid him of the dire scourge, the Village Dukun (Healer) was called, as a last resort. This gentleman asked ‘ how much Chilli in Tuan's diet'?; ‘none' came the answer, ‘I don't indulge in that Native muck'
The Dukun insisted that Chilli would help; as a result, Uncle agreed to eat two Rawit, the small Sputnik-shaped Clilli per day; one each morning and evening, chopped finely into his steamed bun.
The story has it that, by the end of the week, Uncles' intestines had been scoured and the Enteritis banished. He was henceforth addicted to Chilli and couldn't get enough of it, although there were those among his friends who averred he had ‘gone native'.
Mr Hesterman himself, was imprisoned, as a teenager, by the Japanese in a prison camp on, I think, Sandakan. Because of his youth, he was allowed out the camp gate, for a short time each day, which he used for gathering Chillies, whose Vitamin C and other goodies, helped to keep his family alive.
The above were the tales as told to me and, it is to be hoped that accuracy, over the intervening 70 years, has not been compromised.