SPICE is addictive according to science – the power in the capsicum (chilli) is the psychologically and physically addictive compound, capsaicin – a natural chemical delivering the mouth tingle which kicks off a reaction in our brain.
The burn is a feeling we want to repeat because simply put, endorphins flood our brains when we eat foods laced with chilli.
Feeling good at Antony and Rita Latimer's new Market Avenue Afro-Caribbean Pot is easy and that's before you tuck into one of their spicy authentic African or Jamaican dishes.
The endorphins kick in as you walk in off the bustling West end street and are transported to a far off beach. I can almost feel the sand between my toes.
It's exciting that new businesses like the Latimer's are populating the West end – good for the area and good for diners.
Footfall, choice and bustle means the area is enlivened. Cultural diversity in the city's food offering is also great news. Plymouth has bucked up in the last 4 years and you can walk around the city and eat around the world; Poland, Portugal, Jamaica, Cuba, China and Spain.
This is the hallmark of an evolving city reflecting the diversity of its people. We aren't some distant outpost doomed to be Britain's unfashionable cousin – the city is booming and the restaurant trade is at the heart of that boom. Exciting stuff.
Post economic slump, eating out is in flux. As we – in a culinary sense – 'grow up', the fast food, grab it quick culture of the 90s and 00s is steadily being replaced by a craving for food experiences which resonate.
Sure, we want value and speed – we're all time-poor after all – but when it comes to chewing the fat and breaking bread, it has to be something we can believe in and which soothes the soul.
Though Antony and Rita's food isn't soul food exactly – that name harks from the deep south of America – it ticks all the right boxes.
At The Afro-Caribbean Pot you find good value, huge portions and soul in spades, along with history, depthof flavour and authenticity.
Like fables and folktales, secret spice blends are handed down through generations. Much like fantastic family stories, recipes get tweaked, updated and improved upon with every telling.
It's why street food lke theirs food tastes so damned good!
According to Antony they have a core of repeat customers whose tastes have evolved over time and who keep "having it spicier every time."
This is the language of food told time and again – the draw of an eatery doing it right – and as fundamental as the building blocks of the fish and sweet potato stew Antony is creating in the open plan kitchen.
Coconut milk, tomatoes, ginger, garlic and mysterious herb and spice combinations all go in the huge pan which bubbles lidless on the stove. The smells are tantalising and mix with the aromas of mouth-watering charred jerk chicken.
Antony tells me he can eat this famous West Indian dish for breakfast, lunch and dinner as he explains the some of the mysteries of Afro-Caribbean cookery.
"There is so much which goes into the food – ginger, vinegars. There is a lot of thyme and coriander, garlic, onion and secret spice blends. I've never met anyone who says our jerk chicken tastes like anyone elses.
"We've spoken to people who have come back from Jamaica and are kind enough to say ours tastes better."
As Antony busies around the kitchen there's a shake of this and a handful of chopped that – he makes it look easy but that's because he is well practiced. Antony tells me local restaurants have tried to avail him of his classified blend, but he's staying schtum about the exact spice combination which makes his colourful brand of Afro-Caribbean cookery unique.
"The core ingredients are – pimento and spring onion are for Jamaican food."
He adds that Jamaican flavours are a balance of thyme, coriander and many other things which build depth and richness while Ghanaian spice is based around nutmeg and coriander.
Antony, 32, is from London and has Jamaican heritage. He met wife Rita in Ghana when he packed up and shipped out for a youthful African odyssey when he was 21.
Family brought him down here and he stayed, bringing up his two girls and his successful Afro-Caribbean home-cooked street food to Plymouth with wife Rita.
Here on Market Avenue, like their City Market spot, the kitchen is on view and very reminiscent of shacks found peppering the beaches on distant shores – the friendly chefs are available to chat with and you can see what's going on and ask for recommendations directly from the people cooking your food.
The Afro-Caribbean Pot in Plymouth City Market
Antony tells me the Afro-Caribbean Pot began life as a takeaway.
"We opened in 2011 as a takeaway in Millbrook and it just went from there. We moved to Torpoint and the (city) market came up in 2013. As soon as we opened that we thought 'let's go for a restaurant'.
"We found this one – good rent, good position – and opened the end of July."
Their new spot is fantastic, you can look directly up tree-lined Cornwall Street. The interior all wood slats, rough wooden tables, the colours of the Caribbean and African prints and the tables each have a jar of traditional hot sauce.
This is casual and relaxed dining with seating for 14, an alcohol licence and late opening. It obviously took some doing but Antony relates the hard work with characteristic determination and straight talk.
"The walls were horrible. It was black and we redesigned the kitchen area so we have more space, bought the décor and painted the outside. We also outfitted the kitchen and fixed it because it was falling apart."
Antony, Rita and Tinie Tempah before MTV Crashes Plymouth 2015
Cooking is in Antony's blood, he says: "I love it, baking was the first thing I did because I wasn't tall enough to reach the cooker but I could put stuff in the oven. I used to cook three course meals for birthdays when I was ten. They turned out alright - my parents are still alive!"
Most of his recipes have plenty of scotch bonnet – he uses over 6 kilos a week – but don't worry you can have your meal as spicy as you like.
"We tell people they can work up to it. It doesn't have to blow your head off – just a bit of bite."
"People don't understand that you can have any dish at any temperature and as spicy as you like. But even the mildest has chilli in it – because it's about the flavour too."
Scotch bonnet adds Caribbean flavour but chilies add much more than heat to a dish, they have their own distinctly individual flavour too. For Antony food is about pleasure, he says:
"The magic of cooking is watching people smile when they eat our food." says Antony.