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Why do some humans love chili peppers?

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Re: Why do some humans love chili peppers?

#181

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Oh come one, I obviously don’t chop the lima beans or chickpeas. I don’t peel carrots, wash and then chop in under 20 seconds per carrot literally. If I want to make them really fine I use a peeler to thinly slice them into discs (I’ve gotten very good at this, can probably do a carrot in a minute. I don’t have a mandolin slicer).

Actually with a mandolin and skipping peeling you literally could do a carrot in 4 or 5 seconds, but the slices tend to be so thin you'd have trouble eating them as finger food. Anyway I'm keen to try your suggestion.

Also in the same vein if you want to try things out. Take eggplant/squash/beans/spinach etc., chop them up into cubes, slice some onions and some garlic, add a half teaspoon of black mustard, a pinch of whole cumin, some asafetida, salt, whole dried red chili peppers, about a table spoon of fresh grated coconut (you get frozen packs of pre grated coconut), and some tamarind or lemon juice in a pot. Cover, let it simmer or medium high for 10 mins and there’s another health snack to go. The whole thing takes me 15 mins to make and I can snack throughout the day.

Re: Why do some humans love chili peppers?

#182
post #131
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is uncharitable to the genetic diversity in the implied western competition. If there was a difference, it would express itself immediately

What does genetic diversity have to do with anything?

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Re: Why do some humans love chili peppers?

#184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a guy who loves assblaster sauce, it’s just so good. Not entirely sure I can communicate why I love super spicy stuff, but I do love the flavor of most chilis, and the intensity of the experience borders on the euphoric when the fumes are causing nearby people to react like they’ve been tear gassed. I guess it’s a delicious way to get high? Unfortunately after all this time my colon has not gotten nearly as desens…

Out of curiosity, what's your experience of the effects? I tried a toothpick covered in that hot sauce that comes in a flashbang-like container, and the pain was serious. Not intolerable, but akin to a burn that would blister all over the inside of my mouth. Do you feel less pain than that? Or is the pain just worth it?

So based on my experiences with friends and family, I do experience less pain and am less sensitive to spice than them. There will be things that I am genuinely unaware are spicy but friends and family are telling me it's hot, but I think there's also the aspect that when it starts to get really hot I just enjoy the intensity of the sensation and pain.

The super mild stuff, like tabasco, tapatio, sriracha, cholula etc, I can sense the spice but it's mostly just about the flavor. Like I can literally drink the stuff straight out of a glass and it's like chili flavored vinegar, with only a bit of heat as it hits my throat.

Straight jalapenos just taste kind of sweet and fruity to me, with just a hint of spice, but these are some of my favorite just on flavor alone.

Bird's eye chili, thai chilis be they fresh or dried or in vinegar, feel only a bit hotter than tabasco/jalapenos to me.

On my recent trip to Thailand I really wanted to find a place that would blow me away with heat. I would always ask for everything 10/10 thai spicy, and I got to the point where I was additionally just covering my noodles/curries with a 0.5 cm thick layer of whatever fresh/dried chili they'd have on hand, and then adding more throughout the meal, to the horror of the poor vendors/chefs. It just tastes great, really love the flavors of the chilis but it doesn't honestly taste that much spicier to me than tabasco or jalapenos (which is why I kept adding more to try to get it spicier).

Every time I eat at a restaurant that has a spice scale I always go for 5/5, 10/10, nuclear/danger/whatever, and 9.5/10 times I will be disappointed. I get the feeling that most restaurants just err on the safe side so that people don't return the food for being too spicy.

For some reason habaneros to me are a real jump up. Some really pure habanero purees can get pretty damn spicy. I still douse my food in it, but this is where I can really start sweating and breathing through my mouth. For whatever weird reason I still find it super enjoyable but definitely straddling the border of pain/pleasure.

I got a Hot Ones variety box including the Last Dab, and I was just using that as regular hot sauce for my pizza and burritos. Like a good 1-2 teaspoons per bite? Honestly for whatever reason less spicy than some of the habanero sauces I've had.

Have not tried straight ghost peppers/carolina reapers yet. For some reason they scare me, but I'd love to if I came across them.

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