World's hottest peppers being served at härth in the Hilton
McLean  If you love spicy food, and you've been aching to eat a
chili pepper that goes down like battery acid mixed with shards
of glass, Tom Elder has just the thing for you. The executive
chef at härth, a new restaurant in the Hilton McLean, grows six
of the world's hottest chili peppers in an organic garden.
(Photo: Flickr/Vasenka)  Among them is the bhut jolokia, or
"ghost pepper." Measuring at around 1 million units on the
Scoville scale, it's the world's hottest pepper. The other
peppers in his garden measure between 400,000 and 800,000 units.
A jalepeño, by the way, is just 4,500.  "When we first started
reading up on the ghost chili, they had articles on it, and
said, 'The heat of the ghost chili is similar to drinking
battery acid with shards of glass,'" Elder tells WAMU. "Like,
that's the descriptive we had. It's like, 'What?"  He's using
the pepper in soups, ketchup, and a hot pepper marmalade. The
honey may sweeten the pain, but for now