I grew up in somewhat of a food desert, coupled with an undiagnosed lactose intolerance, I avoided a lot of foods, including anything "spicy". When I grew up, went to a gastro doc, I changed my diet and now I can't not have spicy foods. I'm talking about dousing everything I eat in cayenne, habanero sauce, ghost pepper dip, everything. Why? I feel like you enjoy food for longer if you have to take a bit to get through the spice.
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?
Peppers actually originated in the new world. They do not grow well at higher latitudes and are an excellent way of disguising the taste of slightly spoiled food, which is much more of a problem in the tropics.
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."