Posted on 03/01/2015 10:47:08 AM PST by PJ-Comix
A couple of years ago I was out to lunch in Bangkok at a cafeteria-style restaurant with communal tables. I had ordered one of my favorite dishes, larb moo, minced pork with peppers and spices. A few bites in I started to feel the heat. About a minute later my mouth was in full emergency mode. Bright red and with sweat pouring from my forehead, I began chugging down one bottled water after another. My Thai tablemates watched in obvious amusement. Several were also eating the larb moo, yet clearly weren’t feeling the heat to the degree that I was. Why?
“We know that when you eat spicy food over and over again, it does actually start to burn less,” says John Hayes, director of the Sensory Evaluation Center, a research facility at Pennsylvania State University that studies the relationships between food and the senses. “The reason that I might use a lot more Sriracha than you is because I could be desensitized and actually perceive less burn from it.”
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
Appears to have severely affected the fund raising, just sayin'.
Still posting them on your website?
Wanna give me a quick link?
Exactly. I’ve seen some use real whipped cream and ice cream.
I can eat hot foods with the best of them ... eat jalapenos
right out of the jar ... chug Dave Insanity straight out of the bottle. It’s the next day that gets me ...
Even if you are sorting dried hot pepper seed; that is excellent advice...been there, done that. The burning sensation will last several hours.
I was first introduced to spicy food by my Vietnamese neighbor buddies when I was 12 years old as they laughed at me choking but I loved it and haven't looked back since. I found myself eating Trinidad Scorpion Moruga chicken wings a few weeks back. Whoa!
In the small town I used to live in the local pub had a prime rib dinner. Buffet style. As we were in line dishing up are plates a Mexican guy ( east LA not south of the border) Joe came to the horseradish and asked what it was. Another friend told him and said you know hot. Joe said “I like hot”. He damn near choked when he tried it. Totally different hot. Not even hot if you don’t let any of the fumes in your sinuses. It was pretty funny though.
That just might taste amazing. I eat hamburgers bun-less because carbs. I need to try cinnamom and hot sauce on a ground beef patty sometime.
Peppers are good for blood pressure, and an overdose does not result in vomiting, but severe cramping. Hot food is addicting and tolerances vary, but there are few peppers that are truly dangerous—you just can’t ingest enough to hurt yourself.
The worst physical effect is burning the stomach lining, but that is rare. One guy in England supposedly died from a pepper sauce he made, but it was probably an allergic response.
I eat ghost pepper sauces and love spice. I don’t cook spicy foods for others—and do not share. It’s not for everyone, but I love it.
I have eaten tons of hot peppers and look for the spiciest hot sauces whenever I go to the Caribbean and Mexico. I love real Indian and Thai food (not safe for white people) and can eat habeneros raw—like a relish. Peppers are fruits, and the flavors are very distinct.
One of the problems with hot foods is many people making it don’t taste it, leaving the food too bitter, sweet or flavorless.
I ordered a ghost pepper taco once and it consisted of chicken topped with slices of raw ghost pepper, lettuce and cheese. It was horrid—no flavor at 30+ million Scovilles.
It gave me a severe stomach ache and a mild case of shock.
I love “Franks Red Hot Sauce!” best flavor ever.
The most extreme example I’ve seen was a Polish lady who was attending a trade fair in Singapore. Her distributors were the same as mine and we were both working at their stand. After hours we all went out to a typical Singaporean Chinese dinner. With the exception of something like their (to die for) Chili Crab, the food there is typically not “hot”, that is it’s nothing like Thai, or Hunan and Szechuan Chinese food. Just very flavorful. She literally could not and would not touch one of the dozen or so dishes which were served, some of which were not even spicy. Since then I’ve been to Poland a few times and found the food there is extremely bland. So it was either that or she was under the misapprehension that Singapore has sanitary standards like Mainland China. When in fact their sidewalks are cleaner than some of the restaurant plates in Poland.
This forum has no room for those who canter won’t observe the rules of common decorum.
I think age can increase your tolerance as well. Until I hit my 60s, the mildest salsas etc, were a bit hotter than I’d like...
I’m still far short of nibbling on jalapenos (much less the really hot stuff) for fun, but I find that every few weeks my tolerance for the hot stuff goes up a notch.
Little story...
I grew up in the UK, regular meat-and-potatoes type stuff. Spicy food was the last thing on my menu. When I moved to the USA I found it difficult eating out with groups. I quickly learned that I had to be more flexible otherwise I was always going to be the one objecting to dining suggestions. Many colleagues liked Thai food. So I ordered mild fried rice. The first time was ok, a bit hot but tolerable and tasty.
Of course, before long, I soon was enjoying it and decided to advance to medium spicy. Then I got really adventurous and tried other dishes. Yes, I found my forehead getting moist and my mouth ablaze. Then I realized I was LOVING this stuff.
At this point I experimented with jalapeños, etc. - now *everything* was on the menu. My palate had completely changed. I now laugh when I get visitors from the UK. It’s like looking at myself in the past. Even with a burger, off comes the onion and pickles, even the lettuce and tomato. Of course the mayo gets scrapped off too.
The interesting past is that they don’t know what they’re missing. Keeping your palate narrow is denying yourself things you never knew you could like. Now food is never boring, endless choices.
The latest thing has been sushi, I NEVER thought it would appeal....but it’s great! Especially with some pickled ginger and wasabi!!!
I did see a documentary about this phenomenon. The spice is a like a defense mechanism for food. If you eat enough your brain will rewire to not just like it, but to crave it. It was after that I decided to try everything, multiple times....it works!
I was amazed to read here that hot foods have "taste." Not for me.
I remember red tokens, my mom canned beef from a farmer. Tires and car stuff was scarce but we had a faithful gas station owner who looked after my mother. We always had the car. I don't know how she handled the winter streets and snow shoveling though. Maybe my uncle or hired kids.
I just don't remember hardship during the war except my father was gone.
Yeah horseradish can be bad, too, but I love a little bit of it. I use it in shrimp cocktail sauce and am going to try some mixed with mayo for on beef sandwiches.
Heh! Funny story about Dave’s. I kept a bottle in the fridge for sauces and chili. I would add a *little* bit for the kick. My wife, bless her, was unaware of its power, and knowing my fondness for the heat, thought she was doing me a favor one time by preparing my lunch (tuna salad sandwich) with a generous helping of it. At the office I took one bite and thought “Aaaah! What the...?!” Several glasses of water later, I had to throw the sandwich away, unfortunately. That night, she happily asked me “How was the sandwich?” I didn’t have the heart to tell her what I did with it, but suggested that next time, maybe lay off the Dave’s.
In SE Asia, I often ate C rations as the annex was closer than the chow hall. I also bought Tobasco to spice the food. I still have the Tobasco recipe book specifically for C Rats I ordered from them back in 1969.
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