How spicy do you like your food?

[vagriller]

I like heat in some dishes but I don't want it to be the overpowering flavor of the dish but a compliment to the other flavors.

This about the way I feel. If it is something the kids will be eating I back off the spice quite a bit. They other day when I made breakfast tacos I slathered a little of the spicy bbq sauce I had made on them. The beans and rice were already a bit spicy. My son said he wanted one, so I made an extra for him. When I was leaving for work I noticed that he had eaten a little over half. He said the beans were too spicy for him.

 

[radhuni]

Interesting aside... we're multilingual/multicultural in our house. In every language spoken by one or more of us, there is a word for "spicy hot" and a word for "temperature hot". Only in English do we not have that... because spicy doesn't necessarily mean "hot" spicy in English. I make very spicy dishes, but the spices themselves may be very mild. Interesting observation, anyway. So, we use "spicy hot" as a term and "hot hot" as a term.

Yes I agree with you. In Bengali 'spicy hot' means 'jhaal' whereas 'temperature hot' means 'garam'. And as you said "spicy doesn't necessarily mean "hot"".

 

[mexican mama]

I like spict but not the burning sensation that makes you sick

 

[Andy M.]

On a related topic, I've never understood the 'competition' to prove you can stand hotter foods than the other guy.

 

[GB]

It is just like any other competition Andy. It has nothing to do with food or flavor. It is just a test of "strength".

 

[Andy M.]

It is just like any other competition Andy. It has nothing to do with food or flavor. It is just a test of "strength".

I do realize that, GB. But it's different from other competitions. You are causing yourself pain (Today and tomorrow) as a direct result of the competition. Might as well just hold your hand over a burning candle.

 

[GB]

Might as well just hold your hand over a burning candle.

I have done that one too

 

[Andy M.]

I have done that one too

Was that in a competition or were you too drunk to remember?

 

[GB]

Nah I wasn't drinking when I was 12 and my brother challenged me. Well not drinking much at least

 

[Selkie]

Speaking as someone who recently had a wasabi overload...moderate heat thanks! I got a rather large wasabi chunk in my sushi the other day and it completely ruined an otherwise lovely piece of sushi. My eyes watered, my nose ran (and that is MOST unappetizing) and I could taste nothing but wasabi. I like a bit of heat but I want to taste all the nuance in my food.

It's strange, I suppose, but I terribly dislike eye-watering heat produced from chilis, but wasabe, to me, is more of a "tang" than "heat." It doesn't bother me to the point of distraction, except to make my sinuses run. Very spicy chilis, on the other hand, burn my palate and ruin any pleasure from the taste of the food.

I'm just glad there are different ways that different people can enjoy spicy, tongue tingling foods.

 

[spork]

You are causing yourself pain (Today and tomorrow).

I love it super hot, am not competitive but I also see no point to spicy dishes without the sweat. It also depends a lot on its accompanying carbs (i'll scoop anything into my mouth with a two-layered naan).

And accompanying liquid. For once and for all, I'd like to know what drink will calm a mouth on fire...

 

[GB]

And accompanying liquid. For once and for all, I'd like to know what drink will calm a mouth on fire...

Any dairy drink will do the best job. Milk works well as do yogurt based drinks.

 

[vagriller]

Any dairy drink will do the best job. Milk works well as do yogurt based drinks.

Yes, I saw an episode of Food Detectives where they tested soda, water, beer, and milk. Milk was the only one that helped. Some of the others actually reacted in some way or other and made the problem worse.

 

[GB]

Some of the others actually reacted in some way or other and made the problem worse.

Yes, things like water will give you temporary relief, but can make it worse in the end. The heat comes from oil. Since oil and water do not mix then when you try to extinguish the heat in your mouth with water it can end up just floating the oil to other parts of your mouth and throat exacerbating the problem.

 

[velochic]

Any dairy drink will do the best job. Milk works well as do yogurt based drinks.

Actually, fat, sweet and alcohol (has to be high alcohol content, so beer probably wouldn't help, but a martini would) all bind with the capsaicin to alleviate the heat. It's the fat in milk and yogurt that help... so if you're drinking dairy, make sure it's not fat-free! (Found that one out myself, as we only have skim milk in the house. ) I'm sure there is a reason all Indian restaurants offer full-fat sweet mango lassi on their menu.

 

[JohnL]

I enjoy lots of heat, but don't really like spices to overpower the taste of the dish.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

How spicy hot?

Not at all! My tummy has no issue with spices, but my lips and tongue protest loud and long if I eat anything spicy-hot. Although there was this time in Santa Fe; lets just say by the time I was done with five of the 15 wings my lips looked like Goldy Hawn's in "Death Becomes Her". DH does like his spicy, so I keep a nice selection of hot sauces in the pantry for his perusal and use. But he did meet his match once: company outing to House of Blues, nice bowl of seafood jambalaya...and this cute, miniature red bell pepper on top. YIKES! That was a scotch bonnet!!! Didn't know the "milk" trick at the time so he spent the next ten minutes in the men's room running icy cold water into his mouth. He's a LOT more cautious with stuff in a restaurant these days.

 

[Claire]

Cucumbers and mint. I do like my food hot; however, I would like to be able to taste the rest of the meal. So many young men I know go for heat over anything else. Roll of eyes. If you can't taste the next bite, what is the point of eating? I learned the cukes and mint trick when eating southeast Asian cuisine, and it works better than anything else I've tried for cooling the palate and moving on.

 

[Kathleen]

I absolutely love food that is spicy hot but, in the past few years, my body simply doesn't tolerate it. In my twenties, if my face didn't sweat, it just was not hot enough.

As a basis for comparison, in my twenties and thirties, no Thai dish was too hot even when I asked them to turn up the heat. Food made with scotch bonnets was blissful. Now I'm somewhere between the jalopeno peppers are yummy and black pepper is too mild.

~Kathleen