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Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

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Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#261

Post by magicalhippo »

gweinberg wrote: post #181
magicalhippo wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The popular preparation used to be boiling or steaming, and many people still find that gross with modern varieties. What is wrong with people? They're delicious, and an absolute must along side a reindeer roast with a creamed mushroom sauce, or similar. Steamed of course. Though I did learn the hard way as a kid that they can be rather harsh on the stomach when raw...

What's "wrong with people" is they don't like eating poison. You can train yourself to like anything, but the bitter alkaloids that give brussel sprouts and such their nasty bitter taste are indeed a toxin. There isn't enough to be dangerous in modern varieties, but there was in their wild ancestors.

Never had to train myself, always just liked them, and they don't taste particularly bitter.

So I had a hunch it was like cilantro, and seems there's indeed a genetic reason[1].

So fair enough, if they taste bitter I'll accept it's not a nice side dish.

[1]: https://www.compoundchem.com/2014/12/04/brusselssprouts/

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#262

Post by arwhatever »

empath-nirvana wrote: post #100

I love spicy food, but I actually appreciate where jalapeños have ended up because I have family that _don't_ like spicy food so it's a good compromise for me.

Yeah this is actually a beneficial development for those of us who love the flavor of many peppers aside from the heat.

I’m a spiciness wimp but I can now eat a jar of jalapeños like they were popcorn and it makes me just as happy as can be.

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#263

Post by magicalhippo »

danparsonson wrote: post #194
magicalhippo wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The popular preparation used to be boiling or steaming, and many people still find that gross with modern varieties. What is wrong with people? They're delicious, and an absolute must along side a reindeer roast with a creamed mushroom sauce, or similar. Steamed of course. Though I did learn the hard way as a kid that they can be rather harsh on the stomach when raw...

Mushroom sauce?? What's wrong with you ?! ;-)

Hehe.

I should have specified it's wild mushrooms, we have a lot of funnel chanterelle[1] (do not confuse it with deadly webcap[2] which can grow alongside) and regular chanterelle by our cabin, so usually that's what we use.

Makes for a quite delicious sauce.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craterellus_tubaeformis

[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortinarius_rubellus

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#264

Post by tomcam »

tomcam wrote: post #171
magicalhippo wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The popular preparation used to be boiling or steaming, and many people still find that gross with modern varieties. What is wrong with people? They're delicious, and an absolute must along side a reindeer roast with a creamed mushroom sauce, or similar. Steamed of course. Though I did learn the hard way as a kid that they can be rather harsh on the stomach when raw...

I can agree with the first part. Here in Seattle, commonly known as South Alaska, I always order the McReindeer burger at McDonald’s when it’s in season (they alternate with the NcRib).

This might have been marginally funny if I spelled McRib properly

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#265

Post by JumpCrisscross »

PheonixPharts wrote: post #63
jseliger wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Less spicy is actually good. I prefer more flavorful chiles, with less spice. Mark Miller's conversation with Tyler Cowen is good on this subject: https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/mark-miller/ . Chiles are actually fruits and, combined judiciously, create a lot of complex flavors. Excess spiciness overwhelms the flavor. And people who want absurdly spicy peppers, can get them: ghost chiles, carolina reaper…

> I prefer more flavorful chiles, with less spice. As someone with a fairly high spice tolerance, I've found a strong correlation between heat and flavor . I think anyone coming from a culture that eats spicy food will agree. I had a batch of habaneros I grew last summer that were both the most spicy habaneros I've had, and by far the most flavorful. I've also had some very tasty ghost peppers (when used in moderatio…

> I've found a strong correlation between heat and flavor

Capsaicin is a preservative [1].

[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34751073/

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#266

Post by mateo1 »

NoboruWataya wrote: post #31
simonsarris wrote: post #2

It's interesting how bad incentives are when something with qualitative differences (flavor, heat) is sold by the pound. Making it more palatable expands the market up to a point, but so does requiring more peppers generally. The most durable countermeasure seems to be totally outside of the purview of economics: building up a culture of caring about the product. Like tomatoes in Italy, or coffee beans among coffee l…

Are the incentives "bad", really? It seems like they are getting less spicy because that is what most people want. There seems to be an assumption that because Big Jalapeño are changing the flavour it must be for the worse. Personally I prefer spicier peppers but I am definitely an outlier amongst my friends at least. I don't know that we need countermeasures, as such. I think it's fine to have a very common, afforda…

You make the assumption that consumers want what they buy, consumers will just buy what's in front of them. In places dominated by big supermarket chains consumers have a lot less choice than it seems, as marginal costs for shopping a few items from elsewhere are high.

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#267

Post by barrkel »

eichin wrote: post #43
tptacek wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you never grown peppers? It really is absurdly easy. The point though really isn't that everyone's just going to grow their own peppers; rather, it's that it's very easy to introduce an alternate supply of highly-variable jalapenos, because there aren't many barriers to producing them. There are urban garden companies in Chicago that produce lettuce right now and could probably produce jalapenos if anybody reall…

Yeah, I've seen boston-area college students successfully grow szechuan peppers on a south facing (outdoor but sheltered) balcony - with exactly as much neglect as you'd expect from undergrads in a shared apartment. "Absurdly easy" is not an exaggeration.

To be clear, szechuan peppercorns are from various species of trees and shrubs, and are not related to chili peppers (or black pepper).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sichuan_pepper

When combined with chili pepper it's amazing, but quite hard to find in Western Chinese restaurants unfortunately.

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#268

Post by barrkel »

tptacek wrote: post #14
ramraj07 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has got to be the funniest responses to the problem at hand: peppers not spicy enough? grow your own..

Have you never grown peppers? It really is absurdly easy. The point though really isn't that everyone's just going to grow their own peppers; rather, it's that it's very easy to introduce an alternate supply of highly-variable jalapenos, because there aren't many barriers to producing them. There are urban garden companies in Chicago that produce lettuce right now and could probably produce jalapenos if anybody reall…

I cook with peppers maybe once every couple of months, and the lead time to a decision is between 2 hours and 2 days.

I also have two housecats who will eat almost anything leaf-like if the cat grass runs low.

Does it make sense for me to grow peppers? I don't think it does.

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#269

Post by pests »

trealira wrote: post #225
mathgeek wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who also prefers the taste that comes along with spice, best reasoning I have heard is folks who don’t like spice cannot even taste the flavor that comes with it, so they associate milder peppers as tasting better. I.e. when you are screaming for water you don’t stop to consider the flavor (or you may not even taste it at all as your brain tells you to go into flight mode).

Yes, I think you're right. When I eat something that's too spicy for me, I can't taste anything. My tongue is numb and feels like it's burning. It doesn't even have to get to the level of screaming for water; I can power through eating it even if it's spicy enough to where my tongue feels numb, but it's not pleasant, and I don't taste anything. I wouldn't even say that I "don't like spice," as spicy food can taste go…

Yep, for me less numb just every further bite of food feels like eating fire.

Re: Why jalapeño peppers are less spicy (2023)

#270

Post by Lazonedo »

semireg wrote: post #246
crazygringo wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, you're correct -- jalapeños have always been the least-spicy spicy pepper in an average US supermarket. It's just that they used to be spicier. But if you wanted something really spicy, you never bought jalapeños even in the past -- you went for serranos or habaneros if you could find them.

Are bell peppers not peppers? Surely a bell pepper is the least spicy.

"least"? it's not least, it's "not at all" spicy, there's no capsaicin in bell peppers so while they're part of the same family of plants/fruits in scientific terms, in the world of cooking they might as well be considered an alien plant that has nothing to do with the others.

In French, we have a (generic, as in encompassing the whole family of plants) word specifically designating all members of the capsicum family that are spicy: Piments, so as to exclude Bell Peppers (which we call Poivron) from any conversation about this stuff.

Bell Peppers can be considered a main ingredient and focus (in weight) in a recipe, while the others are only ever used as spices.

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