{"id":1121,"date":"2021-07-19T15:43:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-19T19:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ramisalame.com\/blog\/wordpress\/?p=1121"},"modified":"2021-08-02T03:44:24","modified_gmt":"2021-08-02T07:44:24","slug":"aztec-lava-a-humiliation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ramisalame.com\/blog\/wordpress\/aztec-lava-a-humiliation\/","title":{"rendered":"Aztec Lava; a humiliation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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On a beautiful spring day in 2012, I entered an authentic Mexican restaurant in Toronto and ordered a burrito. The waitress asked me what sauce I wanted on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were three sauces, of increasing intensity. I don’t remember their names, but the spiciest one was called Aztec Lava. The name itself should have been a clue, honestly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I asked for Aztec Lava on my burrito. The waitress calmly and matter-of-factly said, “Don’t take that. You’re a white boy.” My friends and I laughed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Don’t worry about me. I’m an Arab, we eat spicy food.” I said this while recalling eating fresh spicy peppers or the red “shatta” we have with falafel. “I’ll take the Aztec Lava.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“No problem,” she replied. “Just to let you know, you will have to pay for it even if you don’t eat it.” That’s a second clue that I missed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The burrito arrived covered in a light green sauce. I took a small bite of it and immediately felt the deepest pits of hell open up inside my mouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, when you eat spicy food, your mouth becomes accustomed to it, and the next few bites become less aggressive, and eventually you just enjoy the heat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not the Aztec Lava on this burrito though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was so spicy that it was bitter. It was so spicy that it eliminated all taste buds in my mouth. I couldn’t pick up on anything from the burrito. And it wouldn’t calm down. No beer, no milk, no water could stop it. Oh, and the tears!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I managed 1.125 bites of the burrito and then stopped. The waitress, upon picking up our plates later, gave me an I Told You So glance. I avoided eye contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have not, since then, ever tasted anything as spicy. Nor tasted that level of humiliation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On a beautiful spring day in 2012, I entered an authentic Mexican restaurant in Toronto and ordered a burrito. The waitress asked me what sauce I wanted on it. There were three sauces, of increasing intensity. I don’t remember their names, but the spiciest one was called Aztec Lava. The name itself should have been … <\/p>\n

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