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 ...
They most certainly can!
There is an ongoing experiment in heat toleration ongoing as we "speak" - with a sample size of 330,000,000. The test is to slowly increase their water temperature VERY slowly at first, and then ramping up the degree of temperature increase as time goes on. The 7-year experiment is nearly over, as the temp now nears the boiling point.
I usually don’t eat spicy food, but found that I can get used to it in about four days. I just put a jalapeno pepper into anything I cook, and after a few days the pepper doesn’t burn anymore.
When I have a cold, I like to eat chili spiced with hot sauce so I can feel the heat in my chest.”
My go-to for a cold is Campbell’s chicken noodle soup with the oodles of salt dosed with Tabasco. Really opens up the sinuses and chest.
Spices are really good for people. Cayenne has enormous amounts of Vitamin C, A and potassium. Some people take cayenne capsules for health.
It contains capsaicin which is considered an anti-carcinogenic genic and is also put into a cream for diabetics to apply to their feet when they have diabetic neuropathy.
And of course eggs require either jalapenos cooked in them or Tabasco dosed freely on them. The Tabasco product is one of the oldest family-owned businesses in the country so it is one that I like to support. Especially since I like hot spices.
My five-year-old granddaughter likes hot food, too, and has since about age three.
I grew up in a family that loves spicy food. My step kids had never been exposed to it. One girl fell in love with it instantly. She now eats spicier foods than I do.
“South of Central America they actually HATE spicy food and have almost no toleration for even mild spiciness.”
That reminds me of the first time I had authentic Peruvian food. I was surprised at how mild it was. Lots of potatoes and beef, all deliciously done, but not even a hint of chili peppers.
The Cuban food I’ve had has been relatively mild, too. Lots of citrus and cumin, but not the sort of blazing hot eats like you’d find in say, in some Jamaican dishes (Scotch bonnet peppers are insidious, I tell you! Insidious!)
Bit of a strange reaction when eating one of your "favorite dishes."
Bread takes away the heat too.
And if your taste leans toward horsemeat I won't nag you about it.
Absolutely correct. Tropical climates give people very few options to preserve food.
They also feel full sooner than eaters of bland foods, as the capsicum turns on the dopamine!
I use store bought jalapenos for this white turkey chili recipe I have. Made it last week and I cracked open a half pint of my home canned home grown jalapenos instead and added the same amount. O chi chonia! Hot Hot Hot. The hottest jalapenos that I have ever had. The chili was edible, barely. Just made some enchiladas today and added just a few. Don’t think I will bother growing too many this year, although I do like them stuffed with chees and sausage. Great appetizer. I bet your salsa is great.
The other day I was telling my daughter about when I was a little girl, we went out to a place where a Lebanese farmer sold great corn and tomatoes, better than you can get now imo. While we were standing there talking, he handed me a small hot red pepper. I took a big bite and my mouth was on fire. I know I had to react to it but all these years later I know he did it to amuse himself.
I have never tolerated hot hot. There is a new green tabasco I like which is milder than the red but i just put on drops at a time. My dad had to have tabasco on about everything. I do like a little "kick" in my cooking but just the right amount. Cayenne, some dried hot peppers, I don't keep red tabasco in the house though.
I don't think I could ever condition myself to tolerate more of that stuff. It would burn all the way down if I swallowed it. I don't want to find out anyway. It's a macho thing with men maybe. I don't know why they want to cover up the taste of their food with that stuff. Maybe it is because historically meat and other ingredients may have been half spoiled and it's to mask the yuck. Cooking at high enough temps would kill bacteria. Maybe the hot sauce kills bad bugs.
I think that one doesn't pass the test. I eat spicy food from a wide range of countries, including Ethiopia, and I've never seen a spice that can cover up spoiled meat. I was a science reporter for decades, and my understanding is that human beings, not being scavengers, can't tolerate the smell or taste of rotting meat—I was told that even a couple of molecules produce the beginnings of the vomit reflex. We're not made to digest it, unlike vultures, and it's dangerous to us.
But spices are a great preservative, so the idea isn't far off, in a way. A lot of zingy substances we like to eat or smell seem to be built into the plant to kill bacteria, bugs, or leaf-eating caterpillars: mint, lavender, cloves, garlic (both antibiotic and antiviral), capsaicin, caffeine, nicotine. . . Honey and olive oil are also germ-killers and preservatives.
God gave us a world full of great-tasting weapons. Isn't it great?
Hot food helps keep the gut bacteria in line.
I love, love, LOVE spicy food. My homemade chili definitely requires a tall glass of iced tea to wash it down. My mom used to eat pickled jalapenos like they were candy when she was pregnant with me, so maybe that’s why I enjoy spicy food so much. I work with a Columbian guy who cannot stomach anything spicier than ketchup.
I use hot salsa for spaghetti sauce....
Yeah, I like a little Scotch Bonnet once in a while.
It helps fight cancer, bronchitis and strengthens your immune system.
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