Posted on 08/29/2021 8:55:48 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
One theory says the sensation distracts from other pains; another says we’re just showing off.
Humans like to eat a lot of strange things—decomposed shark, Namibian warthog rectum, British food—yet among the strangest is our taste for chili peppers: a fruit that, ecologically speaking, specifically evolved to repel us.
But whereas other berries have thorns to protect against seed-destroying predators, chilies have a defense mechanism in the form of the chemical compound capsaicin, the principal function of which is to cause pain for predators. The scientific term for this is “directed deterrence.”
a habanero pepper or order your food “Thai hot,” and your body essentially thinks it’s being attacked by a chemical weapon.
Some farmers in Africa, to keep elephants away from their crops, plant chilies along the borders of their fields, or mix chili powder with motor oil and smear it on fences, or burn bricks of chilies and dried elephant dung.
...Chili-flavored birdseed is also a thing, used to prevent squirrels from pilfering bird food
. Indeed, research shows a correlation, particularly among teenage males, between a preference for spicy foods and testosterone levels, as well as personality traits associated with the pursuit of money, sex and social status.
Such hypermasculine display and self-inflicted harm are hallmarks of adolescent coming-of-age rituals going way back. In Aztec times, young men were held over fires to mark their transition from youth to adulthood, symbolizing their transformation from “raw” youth to “cooked” adulthood.
But for the military too, spicy foods have become a staple of combat rations, especially for long deployments. Beginning in Iraq in 1990, the U.S. military started issuing miniature glass bottles of Tabasco sauce with meals
Then again, maybe the explanation is simpler. Perhaps we just can’t resist the temptation of forbidden fruit—or, in this case, forbidden berries.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
I don’t like hot peppers. I stick with the yellow, red and orange bell peppers. I roasted a bunch a few days ago. The ones I really miss are melrose peppers. I knew people that grew them and I used to buy them by the box at an Italian grocer. Those hatch chili peppers I see at the store, look way too much like them!
False presumption in the title.
It’s not that we “love the pain”, it’s that we love the taste enough to put up with the pain.
Ha ha ha! Thank you! That’s great - and I feel his pain. The worst part is when you need to deal with it again on the way out. Never again.
+1
Guacamole is to cut down on the heat...
“Namibian warthog rectum”? I just can’t
picture anyone arguing over the last bite.
New Mexicos’ state question-
Red or green? (chilies).
They even make a spicy hot beer here,
made from green chilies. Peppers
are instilled in it’s culture.
When hot enough, induces an endorphin rush - makes one chemically happy. Done right it has good flavor and makes me giggle.
Notice hot spices dominate thermally hot areas, useful for killing off bacteria on rotting foods and making the foulness palatable thru intense flavor and a mild euphoric high.
Ghost Pepper Ice Cream: Waiver required
I’ll have to look that up. I’m in Florida and never heard of them.
Another Chinese place I go to, I order it xtra spicy, have 3 of those pepper oil containers added to it, and usually bring in my own hot peppers 2-3 serranoes or 2 habanero/scotch bonnet types. I still consider that just an average level of spiciness for me.
It's actually quite rare that I DON'T add my hot peppers to whatever I'm eating. Omelets get them, any type of sandwich gets them.
8 or 9 years ago I took my kids (early 20’s then) to a hot chicken joint and told them I’d read that the #10 was inedible. I tried to talk them out of it and so did the waitress but their bravado got the better of them and they ordered it.
Some guy at the bar waiting for takeout said, “I’ve been all over the world and eaten the hottest foods there are but this place has the hottest” He got his food and then decided to wait around to watch the kids eat theirs.
They made it through 1/2 a chicken tender each before the both quit. Their night was ruined and their egos crushed.
At their first sign of giving up the guy from the bar said, “I knew it, they’re done, I’m outta here!”
They were both defeated and in misery. I haven’t laughed that hard since then.
I guess it depends on where you start with it.
That sounds more addicting than crack cocaine!
I grew some Habs, froze them and then sautéed them for a chili for a cookoff. My sister’s FIL wanted to try it and ate a whole bowl saying. “That wasn’t that hot”. Then I saw his forehead break out into a sweat. It became like a waterfall
“I used to love the complex, fruity flavor that habaneros impart to food”
Try Nabaneros. The heat has been removed
A little hot is fine. I cured a cold once by eating a bowl of hot chili and sweating it out (was not pleasant to be around, but I felt much better). Extreme hot is just hot - kills any other flavor in the food.
I was with some guys at a higher-end Mexican restaurant years ago - one guy was sucking down chips with habanero salsa like it was candy. I tried just a bit and my face went numb for the next 15 minutes.
Namibian warthog rectum - think I’ll wait for the gas station version - prefer to sink less money into azzz...
If I ordered it it better be Namibian warthog rectum, accept no substitutes!
Ok, who ordered the warthog hiney?
—” sweating it out “
Something I haven’t done in years.
Used to sweat out lingering colds, with a slightly different procedure.
NO PEPPERS, but two heavy sweatsuits over pajamas winter socks, and a winter hat.
Drink a quart of no-caf/herbal tea, go to bed late/tired with heavy winter blankets.
Wake up soggy and feeling like a wet noodle, and having to pee like a racehorse.
Worked for me.
My old German guy medical advisor always recommended linden tea from the neighborhood trees.
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