Explain spicy (HOT) food to me?

In reply to NOHOME :

You should explain to the audience exactly how you make your jerk chicken. For science. 

I'll pass on the heat. I prefer the taste of the food itself and not the seasonings. Anything beyond a little salt and black pepper is not needed. 

Thanks for the lesson JG. 

JG Pasterjak said:

Ooh, I can take this one, both as a pepper lover and a bird lover.

So, birds and peppers have a really unique symbiotic relationship. See, pepper seeds are really soft and fragile, and if a mammal eats a pepper there's every chance that chewing with those big, flat molars with grind up the seed, thus rendering in unusable. And even if the seed survives the chewing, the relatively long digestion process of mammals wil further break down the seed before it poops it out. So mammals make very poor propagators for peppers.

Birds, on teh other hand, don't chew so much. They'll grind up food with their beaks, but just so they can get it down. They don't really masticate the way you or I do. Birds also have very fast digestive systems. Even the slowest digesting birds rarely hold on to food for more than an hour before they poop it out, usually down the back of my shirt just before I go to work. Also, a wild bird that just ate a pepper is most likely to fly somewhere before it poops, thus ensuring more geographicaly diverse propagation as well.

So the key comes with the capsicum content. Mammals are very sensitive to capsicum, so a  mammal that can't help the pepper propagate is likely not going to find it appealing anyway. Birds, on the other hand, are practically immune to the effects. You'll hear some people say that birds don't have capzacin receptors, but they do, they're just "switched off" for the most part.

So, yeah. Nature.

Was actually reading through this thread to say the same basic thing, except I wouldn't have done it so well. Interestingly (to me any way) I grew a bunch of the little Thai Chile's this year.  After I harvested what I wanted, I left a couple dozen on the plants for the birds, because it would amuse me me to see " volunteers" around the neighborhood next year, but they haven't been touched.  I think I may have found the only truck crop that can survive my black thumb.

I love love love hot foods. Just about everything with extract in it can eat a bag o' D's through. Having grown and eaten reapers, Trinidad scorpion, and bhut jolokia (ghost chili's); I've gotta say the ghost's are my favorite, almost taste sweet at times. 

From what I can tell there is a bit of a pepper head high feeling to the really hot foods, but most almost come off as like they are being tasted on another level.  I try to eat mostly raw pepper based items and often like something with a habaneroshabanero will taste on the bitter side. Other peppers have their own spectrum that most folks just interpret as "hot" but actually vary a good bit.

JG Pasterjak said:

Ooh, I can take this one, both as a pepper lover and a bird lover.

So, birds and peppers have a really unique symbiotic relationship. See, pepper seeds are really soft and fragile, and if a mammal eats a pepper there's every chance that chewing with those big, flat molars with grind up the seed, thus rendering in unusable. And even if the seed survives the chewing, the relatively long digestion process of mammals wil further break down the seed before it poops it out. So mammals make very poor propagators for peppers.

Birds, on teh other hand, don't chew so much. They'll grind up food with their beaks, but just so they can get it down. They don't really masticate the way you or I do. Birds also have very fast digestive systems. Even the slowest digesting birds rarely hold on to food for more than an hour before they poop it out, usually down the back of my shirt just before I go to work. Also, a wild bird that just ate a pepper is most likely to fly somewhere before it poops, thus ensuring more geographicaly diverse propagation as well.

So the key comes with the capsicum content. Mammals are very sensitive to capsicum, so a  mammal that can't help the pepper propagate is likely not going to find it appealing anyway. Birds, on the other hand, are practically immune to the effects. You'll hear some people say that birds don't have capzacin receptors, but they do, they're just "switched off" for the most part.

So, yeah. Nature.

wae said:

I made an accidental discovery of some Doritos-like chips from Paqui in ghost pepper flavor and mowed down a bag of those last night.  This sounds crazy but when I eat something that hot I swear it feels like I'm starting to buzz.  

Endorphins.

Knurled. said:

wae said:

I made an accidental discovery of some Doritos-like chips from Paqui in ghost pepper flavor and mowed down a bag of those last night.  This sounds crazy but when I eat something that hot I swear it feels like I'm starting to buzz.  

Endorphins.

 

 

pfft.  If endorphins are so smart, why do they live in igloos?

Mndsm said:

In reply to NOHOME :

You should explain to the audience exactly how you make your jerk chicken. For science. 

Dead easy to make.

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/miss-ollies-jerk-chicken

There is another spicy chicken that we really like, the chicken itself is not spicy but the dipping sauce has a bit of a bite. This sauce with pretty much anything and can be made as hot as you want by adding more or less peppers

https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/peruvian-style-roast-chicken-with-green-sauce.html

FOR THE GREEN SAUCE

• 3 jalapeño chili peppers, seeded if desired (I use about half the seeds for a medium-hot sauce), and roughly chopped (see note)
• 1 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves
• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise, best quality such as Hellmann's
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, from one lime
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1. Combine all of the ingredients except the olive oil in a blender or food processor and blend into a smooth sauce. With the motor running, open lid and slowly drizzle in olive oil. It will seem very runny at this point but, don't worry, it will thicken up as it sits. Transfer the sauce to a bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

In reply to JG Pasterjak :

And that is why I come here! 

Pete

wae said:

Knurled. said:

wae said:

I made an accidental discovery of some Doritos-like chips from Paqui in ghost pepper flavor and mowed down a bag of those last night.  This sounds crazy but when I eat something that hot I swear it feels like I'm starting to buzz.  

Endorphins.

 

 

pfft.  If endorphins are so smart, why do they live in igloos?

No man, those are eskimos, endorphins are the smartest mammals besides humans, like flipper. 

NOHOME said:

Mndsm said:

In reply to NOHOME :

You should explain to the audience exactly how you make your jerk chicken. For science. 

Dead easy to make.

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/miss-ollies-jerk-chicken

 

There is another spicy chicken that we really like, the chicken itself is not spicy but the dipping sauce has a bit of a bite. This sauce with pretty much anything and can be made as hot as you want by adding more or less peppers

 

https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/peruvian-style-roast-chicken-with-green-sauce.html

 

FOR THE GREEN SAUCE

• 3 jalapeño chili peppers, seeded if desired (I use about half the seeds for a medium-hot sauce), and roughly chopped (see note)
• 1 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves
• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise, best quality such as Hellmann's
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, from one lime
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1. Combine all of the ingredients except the olive oil in a blender or food processor and blend into a smooth sauce. With the motor running, open lid and slowly drizzle in olive oil. It will seem very runny at this point but, don't worry, it will thicken up as it sits. Transfer the sauce to a bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Inspired by this thread:

Tofu for the wife. Thighs for me. Can't wait.

I can't explain hot sauce.  I like it, you tend to build up a resistance and you just need something bigger better next time.

If you like Jerk Chicken, take a run at Jerk Goat.  Betta!  BBQ chicken with no spice or sauce is just cooked meat, we're not cave men.   Spicy food is like spicy sex, I'm no authority but I know what I like.

I'm a "medium spice" kind of guy. Enough heat that I can taste it, but not so much that it overwhelms the other flavors. 

Personally, I think for some folks (guys especially) it's a show-offy, macho thing.

914Driver said:

I can't explain hot sauce.  I like it, you tend to build up a resistance and you just need something bigger better next time.

This is truth.  I don't get a "hot food rush" anymore unless I eat something that my GI tract doesn't enjoy as much as my taste buds do.

However, that tofu and chicken that vwcorvette posted looks really, really good.

Knurled. said:

914Driver said:

I can't explain hot sauce.  I like it, you tend to build up a resistance and you just need something bigger better next time.

 

This is truth.  I don't get a "hot food rush" anymore unless I eat something that my GI tract doesn't enjoy as much as my taste buds do.

 

However, that tofu and chicken that vwcorvette posted looks really, really good.

I'm that guy. Unless I know it's a bad idea and i'm going to regret it later, I don't generally feel it hot enough. 

Knurled. said:

914Driver said:

I can't explain hot sauce.  I like it, you tend to build up a resistance and you just need something bigger better next time.

 

This is truth.  I don't get a "hot food rush" anymore unless I eat something that my GI tract doesn't enjoy as much as my taste buds do.

 

However, that tofu and chicken that vwcorvette posted looks really, really good.

And it was. My wife really liked the tofu and she struggles with heat.

Sauteed fresh string beans, grilled Mexican street corn on the cob, jerk chicken. (Beans and corn from the lieutenant governor's farmer's market booth, and local chicken from local Misty Knoll farm.)

In reply to vwcorvette :

OK, I am off to the leftovers! That looks really tasty. What peppers were harmed in the making of this meal?

Pete

NOHOME said:

In reply to vwcorvette :

OK, I am off to the leftovers! That looks really tasty. What peppers were harmed in the making of this meal?

 

Pete

That's the thing. I can't tell you. My wife picks out peppers and grows them then forgets to tag them. She gets a good surprise every once in a while!

Ah VWCorvette, want me to send you a good recipe for grilled corn?  Mostly butter, honey, ancho pepper.....

914Driver said:

Ah VWCorvette, want me to send you a good recipe for grilled corn?  Mostly butter, honey, ancho pepper.....

Can you post it here? That sounds damn tasty. I love some grilled corn.

In reply to NOHOME :

Put the extras in a ziploc baggie and mail them to me.

914Driver said:

Ah VWCorvette, want me to send you a good recipe for grilled corn?  Mostly butter, honey, ancho pepper.....

I want that too.

spicy red peppers have 8 times more vitamin C by volume than an orange.  Long time ago i noticed (construction industry) that darker skinned races never miss work and are always fit looking, the only common thing i could see was their cuisines all included hot foods.  Therefore, between the vitamin C thing and Asian, Hispanic and Indian foods being spicy, i started eating the hot foods i already liked more often.  The more i eat, to a point, the more i can stand, and i hardly ever get sick.  No flu shots at my house! 

So I say that serranos and ​​​​​jalapeños are plenty for me, and yesterday my friend re-gifts me a small bag of ​​​​​habañ​​​​​​​eros and ghost peppers he was given by his neighbor. Now I need to figure out what to do with them...

Always wanted to try this with chicken.  If you find yourself in NYC (David) some great fresh spices can be had.  $2/rattle can at a grocery store vs $2/LB fresh.  Too easy.

Grilled Corn with Honey-Ancho Chile Butter.