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 ...
Have those two, the Carolina Reaper Ghost, the Trinidad Scorpion, and Bhut Jolokia Ghost. I am very careful when dusting my food with any of them. One mistake makes for eating the dish over a few hours. If a small clump falls through, I remove it. Hot spots will “kill” ya! :-)
Waiter! There’s a hair in my...
I was raised on english cooking and married a coonass. Holy Molly baby what is this? Got used to her food before we split. Now I’m married to a gal from Ohio and the shoe is on the other foot. She has gotten used to my cooking as long as I take it real easy on the spices. Loves my gumbo!
My special forces son in law from Louisiana had a holster made for his bottle of Tabasco sauce. Guys in the mess hall in Afghanistan went nuts when they saw it. Now MRE’s 3 lies in one, they ain’t meals, they ain’t ready, and you can’t eat em have those little bottles. Actually MRE’s are way better than C rations.
Google it.
I’m just not crazy about food that hurts me.
—” try this:”
My son-in-law is an avid smoker and built a large brick smoker.
He makes something similar he calls Dino Eggs.
Very good.
dont ever get it on your pee pee hole
Yes, I used to love the complex, fruity flavor that habaneros impart to food. Anything beyond that is just for bragging rights. As a Loosiana boy, I grew up with Tabasco on the table. Still love it on eggs.
And when you’re done with the St. Elmo’s shrimp, shuffle over to the Rathskeller and have some pub nuggets with their horsey mustard - YUM!!!
Right on. Spicy peppers are good only as long as they possess or enhance great flavors. Otherwise, one might as well eat napalm.
__”
I was raised on english cooking and married a coonass. Holy Molly”
Quite a transition!!!
We had English neighbors when I was a kid, mostly it was roast and potatoes and potatoes and roast... But they did drink vinegar and cooked kidneys, you could smell it down the street!
Peppers are just plain delicious when reasonably spicy and combined with meat and spices.
But yes, some people do show off eating things hot enough to burn your taste buds
A little bit of heat adds to some foods, but I can’t believe anyone really enjoys hot peppers that burn their mouth and lips and tongue. And anything beyond “mild” does exactly that to me.
Maybe part of it is a macho thing.
Neat article, thanks. I lived in a minority majority neighborhood and when we had sinus headaches, we ate spicy food that ameliorated the problem. I looked it up a long time ago and think it had something to do with the response of the parasympathetic nervous system.
Fifteen years ago, I went through an odd phase where I craved hot peppers. I used to go to BWWs and order the Blazin’ sauce which was off the charts hot (for most people). During that era, we took a road trip and stopped into Lake Tahoe’s Cabo Wabo to visit our friend Aaron who is Sammy Hagar’s kid. He knew my thing for hot sauce and dared me to eat a special batch he made for Michael Anthony (Van Halen) and his upcoming visit. I cockily said “Whatever. Bring it on!” Well, I could barely get through the 4 ounce cup and suffered horribly on the drive back to Colorado. Got a free intestinal clean out and learned to NEVER try to live like a rock star.
I think he might have meant Ghost Pepper.
—” and dared me to eat a special batch “
AND THIS JUST POPPED UP IN MY NEWS FEED...]
“2% milk saved my life”: When Shaquille O’Neal lost a bet to Charles Barkley on whether or not he could handle a Carolina Reaper
I can skin ‘em as fast as you can bring ‘em.
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