More Or Less Spice Tolerance?

dilettante

dilettante

Well-known Member
Location
Michigan
Piperine (black pepper, etc.), capsaicin (hot peppers), ginger, others?

From lips on through the system, people seem to have different sensitivities. With age, has your tolerance and appreciation improved or changed for the worse?

Which ones do you seek out? Avoid?

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I like hot peppers more than they like me.

These days I have Cora pickled hot cherry peppers a couple times a year and usually regret it the next day. 😉🤭😂

They are great stuffed with meatball mix and baked off as an appetizer, or on pizzas and submarine sandwiches.

I use HuyFong garlic chili paste, vinegar based hot sauce, and hot banana pepper rings to provide a much milder heat to many foods.

As I’ve gotten older I’ve had to make many changes to my diet but I’m a slow learner and probably will continue to make some poor choices for the rest of my life. 😉🤭😂
 
I enjoy fairly spicy foods (although I'll leave the absurdly hot things for those who like the challenge). If a pepper, sauce or seasoning doesn't enhance the flavor of a dish but simply masks it with heat, then I'll take a pass.

As an aside, years ago my kid brother taught me that plain black pepper can be a suitable substitute for table salt. I add very little salt to anything.
 
We enjoy spicy food and prefer ethnic restaurants that lean towards more traditional spice levels, which is often hotter than even we can tolerate, LOL. On a personal scale of 1 to 10 chile peppers, American-mild would be 3 or below. American-medium (often adulterated with sugar, which mutes chile heat) runs 4 to 5. A true Asian/Latin medium would be 6 to 7; true hot would be 8 to 9. 10 is for those few who eat chile peppers whole!

Spouse likes spicer food than I do, so he's easily 6-9. I'm in the 5-8 bracket.

We like blends of different chiles. Much more complexity and nuance using compatible varieties.

Sadly, the Asian and SE Asian restaurants here have become distressingly sugar-oriented. A lot of the younger 'foodies' are extremely sugar-addicted and don't realize it. They want cocktails with sugar syrups and the sauces/dips sickeningly sweet. We went to a fav Thai place last night which had a new cook, and the yellow curry dipping sauce with the roti was sweeter than a dessert sauce...ugh!
 
Lavinia said:
I like to add cayenne pepper to my food but I know it causes inflammation and I will suffer for the pleasure.
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Does it?

There are over the counter and prescription capsaicin creams and ointments for pain. While there are potential side-effects, especially if allergic, I haven't seen cautions about inflammation.
 
The most I can do w/hot stuff are those red chili flakes on my pizza. I'll also add tabasco sauce to my hard boiled eggs while eating them. That's enough hot stuff for me.
 
My apparently sensitive sense of taste reacts badly to anything spicy. Went to a Desi wedding and though the host gave me the least spicy offerings for dinner, I could not eat any of it even though it was not particularly burning, just way too strongly flavored and complex in ways I was not used to. Suspect people can train their mouths and bodies to enjoy such food but if unfamiliar as this ordinary USA American person is, such ethnic foods may be very unpleasant. So no gourmet here.
 
When I eat anything that is too (spicy) hot, after the first couple of bites, I can no longer taste the food. Therefore I can't enjoy the food. Another reason I stay away from spicy foods is because I start coughing, which I hate doing if I'm out and I have GERD.
 
I find that I like Serrano's and Cayennes and eat them alot more since I retired at age 61.

But part of that may be due to being able to have the dishes that ms gamboolgal makes for me that the Peppers go well with, e.g. a big old pot of Pinto's & Red Beans cooked with Ham and Ham Bone and her Cornbread, raw onions and sliced tomatoes all washed down by fresh brew iced tea.

But Cayennes and Serranos are about as hot of pepper as I want.

Dang, once again this thread is making me hungry. Pretty sure I'll be having some of her Beans with the all the fixings tomorrow 😋🍅🧄🌶️
 
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