Jalapeño: A Spicy RCT

Overview

I love making guacamole, and I like it to have a nice spicy kick. So, when I’m in the kitchen, I dice entire jalapeños and toss them in with all the other ingredients. But, I know not everyone enjoys a spicy guac, and I’m happy to carve out the jalapeño seeds to make a mild guacamole that still has some jalapeño flavor.

I was once asked how big of a difference jalapeño seeds make to a guac’s spice level. To answer this question, I roped my family into my semester project for Dr. Donald Green’s Experimental Research course. For the fine details of the project, follow the link to my project page. (In the future, I will update this post to include a summary of the RCT findings.) But, the short answer is: If you like spicy guacamole keep the jalapeño seeds. If you want a mild version use a jalapeño for flavor, but first carve out the seeds.

Recipe

This blog post would not be complete without including my guacamole recipe.

• 3 Hass avocados (diced and mashed)
• 1/2 large Vidalia onion (diced)
• 1 medium tomato (diced) Remove insides to prevent guacamole from becoming watery
• 2 jalapeños (diced)
• 2 cloves of garlic (diced)
• 1 lime (squeezed for the juice)
• Mix the ingredients thoroughly in a bowl, and add salt to taste
• Variants: (1) Low Spice – remove the seeds and pith from the jalapeño, (2) Moderate Spice – remove the jalapeño seeds but keep the pith, (3) Spicy – entire jalapeño.
• Note: The recipe scales nicely for larger servings.