How Much Do You Like Hot And Spicy Food?

[Jingthing]

nowhere in 'farang-land' hot (besides temperature hot) farang food is served and that goes for spicy food too.

This is simply not true. For example, in the US Mexican salsa sales have now surpassed tomato ketchup sales. The clear trend in the US (for decades now) is to more heat and spice in both native and imported cuisines.

there is no hot mexican food. at least not what i call hot. period!

Overall, yes, Thai is hotter than Mexican. But there most certainly hot Mexican food. Jalapenos are not as hot as Thai birdpoo peppers, that is quantifiable, but actually jalapenos heat levels varies widely from pepper to pepper, and I have often had very hot ones. For US people, I am not only talking about their love for Mexican food. More and more Americans also love many other hot and spicy styles: Cajun, Thai, Ethiopian, Indian, Szechuan, Hunan, BBQ, Southern (as in hot wings), among others. In my lifetime, there has been a huge palate shift in the US from bland to spicy. Of course, not all individuals follow the general trend.

Edited July 24, 2008 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

Here are the current results versus my predictions, now revealed.

I would have predicted these results, for the hot and spicy lovers, solely based on personal observation:

USA/Canada, most hot and spicy

British Isles, number two

Aus/NZ: number three, but really I didn't have a strong opinion

Europe, number four

Actual results as of now, adjusted for percentages

Aus/NZ, most hot and spicy (small sample though so very questionable)

British Isles: number two (the British Isles and North America were very close)

USA/Canada, number three (actually beat the Isles in percentage of very hots)

Europe: number four

Here is the math I used as of now:

Aus/NZ, 4 total votes, each vote counts as 25 percent

Hot lovers: 100 percent

British Isles, 23 total votes, each vote counts as 4.35 percent

Note: when you add up the hot and the medium hot the British Isles has a slight edge

Hot lovers: 70 percent (all rounded)

Medium hot: 17 percent

No hot: 13 percent

US/Canada, 18 total votes, each vote counts as 5.55 percent

Note: US/Canada tops in hot lovers overall

Hot lovers: 72.5 percent

Medium hot: 11 percent

No hot: 16.5 percent

Europe, 6 total votes, each vote counts as 16.66 percent

Hot lovers: 50 percent

Medium hot: 50 percent

No hot: 0 percent

Note: Another way you could interpret these results is for Europe to be number two, but I considered the results in a weighted manner, with hot votes considered more weight. Only 50 percent hot lovers, seems to me, that is the least hot loving, also a small sample.

Edited July 24, 2008 by Jingthing

[Yorkie]

Jalapenos are not as hot as Thai birdpoo peppers, that is quantifiable, but actually jalapenos heat levels varies widely from pepper to pepper, and I have often had very hot ones.

Another plug:

How Hot is that Chili?

Very subjective, of course.

Cheers

Y

[wolfmanjack]

nowhere in 'farang-land' hot (besides temperature hot) farang food is served and that goes for spicy food too.

This is simply not true. For example, in the US Mexican salsa sales have now surpassed tomato ketchup sales. The clear trend in the US (for decades now) is to more heat and spice in both native and imported cuisines.

there is no hot mexican food. at least not what i call hot. period!

Overall, yes, Thai is hotter than Mexican. But there most certainly hot Mexican food. Jalapenos are not as hot as Thai birdpoo peppers, that is quantifiable, but actually jalapenos heat levels varies widely from pepper to pepper, and I have often had very hot ones. For US people, I am not only talking about their love for Mexican food. More and more Americans also love many other hot and spicy styles: Cajun, Thai, Ethiopian, Indian, Szechuan, Hunan, BBQ, Southern (as in hot wings), among others. In my lifetime, there has been a huge palate shift in the US from bland to spicy. Of course, not all individuals follow the general trend.

My father and i used to grow Jalepenos for commercial purposes. For the customers that wanted them hot we would not water them for a few days before picking. For those that wanted them mild we would water the shit out of them, for a few days before picking. Tjis also seems to be working with the phril kee nhus i am growing here in thailand. My wife complains that mine are not hot enough right now but it is the rainy season and not much i can do about it. They are much hotter in April.

[Jingthing]

Just to note that Mexican cooking uses many more spices other than only jalapenos. Anyone who doesn't think there are alot of authentic hot and spicy Mexican dishes doesn't really know Mexican food. Some of the dishes are of the add your own extra spice at the table variety though. Chipotle pepper is by the way, dried jalapenos.

Edited July 24, 2008 by Jingthing

[IMA_FARANG]

I think some farang nationalities like hot and spicy foods more than others, so I have a prediction on how this will turn out, but will tell you later.

Caveats of this poll, sorry there are limitations:

-- for the poll's purposes British Isles contains England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Northern Island, Channel Islands, Isle of Man

--yes I know the US and Canada are different countries

--yes I know Australia and New Zealand are different countries

--yes, I know France and Germany and the rest of Europe are separate countries

--yes, I know I left out South Africa, the Philippines, and most of the world out, including Thais, there are space limitations, OK? Sorry.

--yes I know HOT and SPICY are not the same thing; for the convenience of this poll I merged them

-- yes, I know there are LEVELS between don't like, moderate spicy OK, and love big spice, again, there are space limitations, pick a choice that fits with you OK, or don't play, OK?

I'm from the U.S. ....east coast...and I went with moderate hot/spicy. I don't mind hot food, but I don't want food so hot all it does is burn my mouth. What's the point of that? It reminds me of the joke about banging you head againt the wall. Why would you want to that? Answer: because it feels so good when you stop. The same is true of extremely hot/spicy foods, they taste so good after you stop eating them.

Part of the reason I don't like very hot/spicy food is due to the fact that my Thai G/F had a stomach ulcer for many years (until an operation removed it). So when I first came to Thailand we ate more Chinese or not so spicy Thai food due to her ulcer problems.

[Jingthing]

I don't want food so hot all it does is burn my mouth. What's the point of that?

Those who love it don't ask such silly questions ...

BTW, the mouth isn't the only place that burns.

Edited July 24, 2008 by Jingthing

[pampal]

Phet Phet is the way I like to eat, that includes other cuisines as well, not just Thai

[suegha]

Yo Yorkie, lookslike a great recipe to me, nice one!

[rice555]

Hello Jingthing, chipotles are 'smoked', usually with mesquite and be bought either dry in packs or moist in cans. The flavor is from the smoking.

Hello Naam, will this light your fire? There are #1.

rice555 SF-SJ

[sjaak327]

From Europe and addicted to spices. From the Thai spices which indeed don't last long, to the South American spices that stay with you for an hour or so (madame jeanette is one example).

I do love my food spicy, from Som Tam Lao (NOT som tam thai) to Kapow Kung, with 20 chillies.

Each trip, I make my way to Talad Klong Toey, for a some kilo's of chillies, as they are 100 baht a kilo there

[WujouMao]

iv just come back from thailand and had a new dish with the helping of a thai girl. the soup dish is called gaang bah or something like that. i thought it was hotter than somtam to be honest

[Jingthing]

Well I am going to have to eat my chili hat about my predictions, because I would have predicted North Americans are the spiciest and Europeans the least spicy (right on that one).

But based on a now much bigger sample, it is fair to say the heat rankings fall as follows:

1. Aust/NZ

2. British Isles

3. North America (sans Mexico)

4. Cont. Europe

[Naam]

Hello Jingthing, chipotles are 'smoked', usually with mesquite and be bought either dry in packs or moist in cans. The flavor is from the smoking.

Hello Naam, will this light your fire? There are #1.

rice555 SF-SJ

chipotles taste indeed delicious (YUM)! we prefer the moist ones. the Mrs and me quite often finished a 1lb can as addition to a single dinner. unfortunately not available in LOS.

[Meg_2003]

I love Spicy Thai/Indian food.. I can't eat it if its not mouth burningly spicy!

Even my Thai BF can't eat as spicy as me.. The food cart vendors look at me like Im out of my mind when he orders double the normal amount of chilli in my Yam Salad

[desi]

Just fried chilly peppers in batter. Eating it wish wisky ..IT IS DA BOMB!!!

HOT jalapeños (not tame restaurant-style) sliced over a thin piece of sharp cheddar cheese. Washed down with your beer of choice.

Villa Market sometimes carries fresh jalapeños. I buy about 4 - 6 packages. Clean. Stuff into a wide jar. Pour vinegar and salt over top. Wait a day or two. Enjoy.

For variety, I add fresh garlic and shallots to the mix.

They don't have the same heat as the small Thai chilies, but they do pack their own punch (unless you get a dud bunch). And sometimes when I get lucky, they burn like the dickens.

[junki3korean]

i love my food chilli really really hot.....BUt rips me when i got to the toilet.....arggghh!! "ring stinger"

[jdinasia]

Spicy food is a regional thing in the US, not a national thing (texmex/the south etc tend to eat food FAR spicier than elsewhere)

[Jockstar]

I love spicy. I eat more spicy than my wife. But i was brought up on curries etc that my dad would make and we would eat. (no i'm not Indian or Asian )

[Lopburi99]

I like Thai spicy food a lot, but can't go anyway near it because of my lifelong history of diverticulosis . Damned shame to live here and not to be able to eat much of the great Thai food.

[PhilHarries]

i love my food chilli really really hot.....BUt rips me when i got to the toilet.....arggghh!! "ring stinger"

Funnily enough I never get the morning afterburner with Thai food even if it's way hotter than Indian curries. I guess it's due to the use of fresh chillies.

[suegha]

i love my food chilli really really hot.....BUt rips me when i got to the toilet.....arggghh!! "ring stinger"

Funnily enough I never get the morning afterburner with Thai food even if it's way hotter than Indian curries. I guess it's due to the use of fresh chillies.

Totally agree Phil, I have never had the burning bum sensation and I eat my food very spicy!

[lolex]

good poll.... just need to adjust results by nationality profile of TVisa now... please post... will be interesting to see the adjusted view...

[TheJoker]

Europe, not to hot and spicy.

I like some, but not to much..that i'm gasping for air. I do like to taste my food, not just burning feeling.

[Sarge]

I think some farang nationalities like hot and spicy foods more than others, so I have a prediction on how this will turn out, but will tell you later.

Caveats of this poll, sorry there are limitations:

-- for the poll's purposes British Isles contains England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Northern Island, Channel Islands, Isle of Man

--yes I know the US and Canada are different countries

--yes I know Australia and New Zealand are different countries

--yes, I know France and Germany and the rest of Europe are separate countries

--yes, I know I left out South Africa, the Philippines, and most of the world out, including Thais, there are space limitations, OK? Sorry.

--yes I know HOT and SPICY are not the same thing; for the convenience of this poll I merged them

-- yes, I know there are LEVELS between don't like, moderate spicy OK, and love big spice, again, there are space limitations, pick a choice that fits with you OK, or don't play, OK?

this is deeply flawed poll as shown with all those proviso. It's interesting to see some Americanos splitting Europe from British Isles like if they were different geographical continents. Going back to the original post, those with at least a rudimentary knowledge of food would know that hot food - and - spicy food are two different things.

The funny things is that people coming from a bland food culture (such as Anglo-Saxons) can acquire a taste for rich & spicy foods either at local ethnic restaurants or foreign travels never seem to want to go back. Conversely people coming from strong food cultures, who immigrate to countries where food is seen as an unavoidable necessity and treated as a commodity (bland food nations) never switch to the host cuisine. Yeah as Naam said earlier on, it can be an acquired taste for some, who don't know better. Once tried forever smitten.

[Jingthing]

this is deeply flawed poll as shown with all those proviso.

Thank you for stating the obvious. Very helpful. Would you have preferred I not mention the provisos that explicitly spelled out the limitations of the poll? Can you do a better poll that covers the same topic? Then do so, please. Otherwise, have a pickle.

those with at least a rudimentary knowledge of food would know that hot food - and - spicy food are two different things.

--yes I know HOT and SPICY are not the same thing; for the convenience of this poll I merged them

Fully acknowledged in the proviso, so if you are saying I know nothing (which seems to be a hobby of yours) you just struck out (thats an Americanism if you need to look it up).

I would have had to do TWO polls otherwise.

Conversely people coming from strong food cultures, who immigrate to countries where food is seen as an unavoidable necessity and treated as a commodity (bland food nations) never switch to the host cuisine.

What are the bland food nations? If as I suspect you mean the USA because that seems to be an obsessive recurring theme for you, you are talking about a culture that over the course of few decades has changed from a mostly bland diet to a much more heavily seasoned one, more HOT, more SPICY, overall more FLAVOR. Mexican salsa outsells ketchup in the USA.

Edited November 15, 2008 by Jingthing

[Mosha]

I answered Yorkshire and medium spicy. It's not that I don't like it too hot but my nose runs, and in the morning on the bog my bum hurts so much I almost turn into a believer. It doesn't help when I cry ow and my wife thinks I'm enjoying it.