"Peter Dy" > wrote in message
...
[...]
> > Does anyone here find Szechuan peppers "hot"?
>
>
> No. You're right. Not sure why they describe it like that. In Chinese,
> the word "ma", numbing, is used to describe Sichuan peppercorns; "La",
hot,
> is used for chilies.


Oops, typed that before I read the article, where they do mention ma and la.
But the author got it wrong. The chef said: "You can't cook Sichuan food
without huajiao; you can't get that special ma la flavor." He's talking
about Sichuan food needing both the ma of the peppercorns and the la of
chilies; he wasn't talking about the properties of the peppercorns
themselves, at least I doubt it.

Peter

PS. I have a little bag of the stuff freshly picked from a bush at
someone's home in Sichuan coming my way. My sister says it's the freshest
she's ever seen. Can't wait!