I used to live in West Africa, where everything is spicy. Grilled scotch bonnet peppers are a garnish in restaurants. It’s sink or swim. Thai restaurants make their “mild” Thai mild, swimming in peppers.
At some point you cross a point of tolerance where the lovely flavors of hot peppers open up to you. Orange bonnets and habaneros are wonderfully delicious. Zingy with a fruity chili flavor that is unlike other milder peppers. 10/10 my favorite. But only something one can taste once you learn to tolerate capsicum exposure.
Worse, I’ve noticed that a lot of the hotter stuff doesn’t even have a good flavor.
For regular jarred Mexican salsa, I like Herndez. The hot isn’t very hot and it would be completely fine for me with chips or whatever, but the flavor of the medium is so much better. I don’t really get it.
I do lots of very spicy food. I think my tongue has literally been damaged over time by all the heat, so stuff I don’t register as being even the slightest bit spicy are unbearably hot to others and I have to really ratchet it up to taste anything.
But what I’ve found at lots of Asian restaurants is that the staff assumes my pale, white ass can’t take real heat. I ask for “5-peppers” hot and they’re like “We’ll start you with a 2.” It’s annoying. I’ve never been served food that’s “too hot” in a restaurant, so I kinda understand these exaggerated descriptions people give on food orders.
I once had to leave a negative review at the Thai place I go for lunch pretty regularly, because they got a new hostess and she kept trying to save me from my hubris multiple weeks in a row.
The owners finally had a conversation with her and now I get my Pad Thai at the appropriate spice level. I edited the review to 5 stars afterwords.
They do that to me nearly all the time too, especially with to go orders. When eating in person, I just always ask them to bring the spice tray out when ordering my food, that seems to sometimes get the point across.
On the other hand you have the bozos that order extra extra spicy and then whine that they can’t eat it. That’s likely something everyone who works in an Asian restaurant has experienced multiple times.
I have a good Sichuan place near me. Sichuan heat can sneak up on you, so people who pull this are liable to be leaving in an ambulance. Makes it difficult for me to get the authentic experience.
When I was in the US with another Brit buddy we went out for a curry (Gaylord Chicago IIRC) and each ordered a vindaloo. The head waiter was dispatched to our table to warn us this might be too spicy. When we told him we were British he nodded, smiled, and said “I understand, I’ll let the kitchen know.”
It was still a bit on the mild side for a BIR vindaloo.
The fact is that even with just a bit of intentional spice “training” you can get your tolerance into the million scoville range, far beyond what your average Indian place can do to their vindaloo unless they are specializing in spicy food and have ghost peppers available.
There’s a Mexican restaurant by me where they keep the good hot sauce in the back.
You can ask for it.
You can purchase it.
They do not keep it on the table.
The guy will however come up to you all sketchy like and ask if you like spicy, then bring you a ramekin for your food and let you know you can take a jar home.
Lots of folks take the bait then struggle in their booth. Dinner and entertainment.
I think this is masochism. Food doesn’t leave any external marks so these people go with food.
I used to live in West Africa, where everything is spicy. Grilled scotch bonnet peppers are a garnish in restaurants. It’s sink or swim. Thai restaurants make their “mild” Thai mild, swimming in peppers.
At some point you cross a point of tolerance where the lovely flavors of hot peppers open up to you. Orange bonnets and habaneros are wonderfully delicious. Zingy with a fruity chili flavor that is unlike other milder peppers. 10/10 my favorite. But only something one can taste once you learn to tolerate capsicum exposure.
I was joking.
Worse, I’ve noticed that a lot of the hotter stuff doesn’t even have a good flavor.
For regular jarred Mexican salsa, I like Herndez. The hot isn’t very hot and it would be completely fine for me with chips or whatever, but the flavor of the medium is so much better. I don’t really get it.
Herdez roast salsa verde chefs kiss
I do lots of very spicy food. I think my tongue has literally been damaged over time by all the heat, so stuff I don’t register as being even the slightest bit spicy are unbearably hot to others and I have to really ratchet it up to taste anything.
But what I’ve found at lots of Asian restaurants is that the staff assumes my pale, white ass can’t take real heat. I ask for “5-peppers” hot and they’re like “We’ll start you with a 2.” It’s annoying. I’ve never been served food that’s “too hot” in a restaurant, so I kinda understand these exaggerated descriptions people give on food orders.
I once had to leave a negative review at the Thai place I go for lunch pretty regularly, because they got a new hostess and she kept trying to save me from my hubris multiple weeks in a row.
The owners finally had a conversation with her and now I get my Pad Thai at the appropriate spice level. I edited the review to 5 stars afterwords.
They do that to me nearly all the time too, especially with to go orders. When eating in person, I just always ask them to bring the spice tray out when ordering my food, that seems to sometimes get the point across.
On the other hand you have the bozos that order extra extra spicy and then whine that they can’t eat it. That’s likely something everyone who works in an Asian restaurant has experienced multiple times.
I have a good Sichuan place near me. Sichuan heat can sneak up on you, so people who pull this are liable to be leaving in an ambulance. Makes it difficult for me to get the authentic experience.
An ambulance because the food was too spicy? That is one expensive dinner
When I was in the US with another Brit buddy we went out for a curry (Gaylord Chicago IIRC) and each ordered a vindaloo. The head waiter was dispatched to our table to warn us this might be too spicy. When we told him we were British he nodded, smiled, and said “I understand, I’ll let the kitchen know.”
It was still a bit on the mild side for a BIR vindaloo.
The fact is that even with just a bit of intentional spice “training” you can get your tolerance into the million scoville range, far beyond what your average Indian place can do to their vindaloo unless they are specializing in spicy food and have ghost peppers available.
There’s a Mexican restaurant by me where they keep the good hot sauce in the back.
You can ask for it.
You can purchase it.
They do not keep it on the table.
The guy will however come up to you all sketchy like and ask if you like spicy, then bring you a ramekin for your food and let you know you can take a jar home.
Lots of folks take the bait then struggle in their booth. Dinner and entertainment.
10/10
You need to do a Ron Swanson-style “I said I want all of the chilis you have” routine.