If you want to see what I mean, put a szechuan peppercorn in your mouth and chew it. At first it tastes quite nice, slightly sharp, a little peppery but not hot or overpowering. About a minute later the sharp sensation grows to acrid and then you notice a strange and altogether unpleasant sensation, your mouth will go completely numb.

And it's not a good numb either, no 'comfortably numb' more 'I seem to have damaged my tastebuds' sort of numb.

Cooking with these little beasties is different from eating them on their own of course and they are a fantastic ingredient, but I think this is how the people in Szechuan province manage to eat such spicy hot food, add a teaspoon of these crushed up into a dish and half way through the anaesthetic effects begin and you can easily chomp through raw chillis without any fear.

I reckon if you had a good mouthful of these you could easily sneak your way through to the finals of the world chilli eating contest even if you were normally not a hot food addict.

So if you are going to be cooking some Szechaun food, make sure you include some Szechuan peppercorns (not too many) and lots of chillis as well. It's a great combination and although I wouldn't recommend it as a daily event it's well worth a go.