A little spice enhances flavor, a lot is just self-hazing.
Ah, the things we do to attempt to preserve our dignity when we think we're getting something only entertainingly hot, but turns out to be Chicken à la Mace...
My spice tolerance definitely increased after living in Sichuan Province for 6 months.
Man. I absolutely cannot handle spicy food. But damn is it too good. Indian is certainly one of my favourites, and frankly, if it isn't spicy, it's not right. I will continue eating it regardless, cause it is top notch.
Not a bad thing, but makes you wonder why (historically) Caucasian cuisine is typically not spicey. Indian, Thai, Korean, (various) African, Latino food are all known to be hot as hell. Western European and American food, not so much. Did hot spices/foods just not grow in those regions?
Caucasians are also the ones who eat a ton of dairy, which you'd think would be helpful for cutting down spice levels.
And here I am, growing my own peppers and putting hot sauce on... Almost everything. Love spicy food.
“These are tears of joy, of ecstasy.”
I just ate at an Indian restaraunt about an hour ago and it was surprisingly manageable.
If you're in a Western country, it's possible, they make it several magnitudes less spicy than it is traditionally. Just because they'd have no customers otherwise...
"So when you say 'very spicy', do you mean for you or for me? Because I sure as hell can't handle India-spicy, but I love European-spicy."
I ate a ghost pepper once and tried to play it off as not being that hot. I spent the next 15 minutes trying not to puke.
