I don't like it when I can't taste the food but I don't mind a mild sweat!

I love my food well seasoned, but not too hot. I prefer my salsa on the mild side and always order Indian food seasoned "mild." Like you, I miss the layers of flavor when my mouth gets overwhelmed by too much heat.

It does seem like we're in the minority, though. I'm the only one in my family that doesn't go for "hot."

On the other hand, I'm the one in our family who can't have things tart enough. I love my lemon foods without much sugar and love the tart taste of rhubarb. I guess we all have different taste buds.

I don't like hot/spicy foods either, I don't get the point - I don't live in the tropics and have a fridge, so preservation and the anti-bacterial effects of those spices aren't necessary.

I agree, I want to taste all the other flavors, many of the subtle. When we make salsa, in late summer, I always clean the jalapeño peppers of their ribs and seeds, so it just leaves a little sparkle of spice. My SIL adds lots of hot peppers, which makes me wonder why we add all the other spices.

The few times a restaurant didn't honor my request for MILD seasoning, I sent it back, I'm not going to waste money on food I won't eat.

I'm in this club! I don't mind a hint, but I don't enjoy mopping my face while I'm eating.

I love hot....its' addictive....the more you eat the more you want and you build a tolerance and what was once hot is now in need of seasoning.
Now mind you, I don't want everything hot or highly seasoned...I love things like snapper simply sauteed with a bit of lemon or green beans steamed with just a little butter and salt....everything doesn't have to have a "recipe"...
but I love blackened fish and beef with adobo and even habanera jelly on my morning bagel!
Linda C

There's a wide range between bland and habanero pepper hot.

There's a lot of definitions of "hot" and "too hot" (including ideas of what's "too hot to taste the food").

And there's a lot of definitions of "spicy" (some people think garlic is spicy; in fact, most Chinese restaurants put that little pepper symbol next to garlicky foods to indicate "spicy").

There are some foods that have enough "umami" and essential flavor that they need NO extra seasoning. But many foods need a kick. Just a pinch of parsley could be all that's needed. Then the level goes up from there and I have a feeling you're somewhere up the scale but not to the end/top. I think I'm in the middle somewhere.

Joe

I'll take overspiced before oversalted. I don't mind a good cry once in a while - in fact I like it - but oversalting food turns me off completely. And I find it so common at mass-market chain restaurants in particular.

Life is too short to eat bland food! I suffered in Atlanta (9 years) because so many Southerns don't like "spicy" food (but they will eat barbecue sauce that was so strong, I couldn't eat it--black pepper hot). It is just different strokes, different folks. Thai hot isn't for me, but make it rich with spice and I'm happy!

Gee Beachlily, I'm sorry to hear that you suffered at the hands of Southerns!

I enjoy hot and spicy foods that warrant those additions. My DH always asked how can you eat such hot food? I give him the same response that he used when I ask him how he can drink scotch..."it's an acquired taste" he says.

Love it hot and spicy!! There are some many different hot, spicy, ethnic foods, etc. why limit yourself! I want to try as many as I can. Besides that is what they make Zantac for! lol Nancylouise

The thing with spicy hot food is that you do acquire something of an immunity after a while. I don't trust myself to cook with chili peppers when cooking for people who don't care for things "too spicy", because when I can barely tell it's spicy, many others sputter. So when cooking for others, I tend to err on the lack of heat side and put hot chili sauce or cayenne on the table.

That said, I don't particularly care to be in pain, so I draw the line at munching down whole habanero chilis, which I have known some friends to do.

Me too, prefer the taste of food over the taste of spice. Plus, my stomach doesn't handle spicy hot food too well. When I use spices and condiments I use them very sparingly. I am one of those people whom my husband calls "boring" LOL.

I'm for both. When I was little (8?) through my mid twenties we used to really like eating out at Thai and Indian restaurants. We would actually mop the sweat off our faces! I could still taste the flavours but I loved that mouth watering burn.

Now that I'm round 40, oh, no, not too hot! I like spicy but I don't like too spicy. If I break a mild sweat, that is okay, if I have to use the napkin on my face, nope, too hot.

Not sure how that change happened...

I also find that some "hot" spices are too hot and block all the other tastes while some seem to enhance the flavours.

J.

Pinky:
I'm like you, in that I like to taste the foods with normal Spices.

The best I can do is Spicy Buffalo Wings.
Anything above that, starts to show up on the Richter Scale.

I've never got accustomed to very Hot, it was always ,
very HOT !!!!!

Don't see how anyone can taste anything, after eating Halepeno's.

I'm not Mexican , so I'll stay with mild Italian Food.
I don't really want to find out,
if I can become accustomed to Red Hot
Lou

I don't like hot just for the sake of hot, but I love hot with flavor. I don't want to just "feel" the hot, I want to taste it too. I don't like Tabasco. I LOVE Cholula. I love pickled jalapenos. All the heat has to be added after the fact, because nobody else in my household likes or can stand the heat.

DH, who is a foodie as much as any of us, likes some foods so hot he starts hiccuping. DS #1 has also taken to being very liberal with the sriracha. DS #2 and I just pass the salt....

I don't like hot at all ever but I do like enormous flavor in the way of garlic, onions, strong cheeses, wines, chinese flavorings, and every herb and spice that doesn't add heat.
When I buy salsa I always get mild.
And I leave out the red pepper in my cheese wafers.

I also find that the older I get (now in my 70's) I can no longer tolerate the hot and spicey foods I once did. I can remember a waiter in an Indian restaurant in London back about 40 years ago cautioning me when I ordered a madras curry. Bring it on, I said, and I loved it. Now I too, order Indian food mild to medium.

Asking a waitperson how spicey something is now is NOT a good choice - seems all the young people these days have managed to kill their taste buds with all the hot stuff that is served these days. Oh, I love garlic and onion - that's different, that's flavor. But somehow I think that crab cakes so hot my tongue burned and I couldn't finish them seems wrong.

I wonder if the young people these days who almost consider it a challenge to see just how hot they can eat stuff will, like the damage they say is done to the hearing because of loud music, damage their sense of taste.

Foods so seem to cycle, so I just hope the end of the hot and spicey era comes to an end before I do.

While I don't doubt that there are some people who eat very hot foods just to be "macho", I think it most often comes down to what you're used to. You develop a tolerance with constant exposure. A "heat" level that one person truly enjoys might seem punishing to someone else.

When I was in high school, I had a friend from Indonesia who used to make his own chili sauce in the blender. He'd put a double handful of jalapenos and just enough oil to get the motor running, puree the mess and eat it on everything. The first time I tried it, I thought my tongue was never going to function properly again. Now, jalapenos are no big deal. And yet, as spicy as I like food, I have learned to tame down recipes from one Southern Indian vegetarian cook book I have because I want to be able to eat the results!

One Indian restaurant I used to frequent would bring a new customer a little turnover as a "starter"...it was mildly spicy (to me)...this gave them a reference point to start with regarding the customer's tastes. They would inquire as to how spicy you found it, and then prepare the rest of your dishes with that in mind. I thought it a great system.

Add me to the lsit of people who like things a bit spicy, but not too much. I don't want food so hot that the heat detracts from or overwhelms the other flavors in the food.

Elery is one of those people who can eat a whole habanero and profess to love it and he adds Siracha to everything from eggs to beans. I never touch the stuff but I love my homemade Habanero Gold jelly on a bagel with some cream cheese.

I like chili just hot enough to make me sweat but not so hot that the enamel on my teeth bubbles. I don't usually want heat to be the pre-dominant factor.

I'm the same way with onions and garlic, shallots and dill and basil. I want those things to enhance the flavor of the food, not overwhelm it, so unless the top note is supposed to be onions or garlic or hot peppers, they need to be a bit more subdued.

I do think it's somewhat of an acquired taste, like many things are. I'm also told by wine experts at various wineries that red wine is an "acquired taste". I've tried it many times and still don't like it, so I've given up trying to acquire a taste for it, the same with beer and olives. LOL

The thing I've noticed has become omni-present is cheese. It seems to me that cheese is added to or put on top of nearly everything. I've learned to orderithings without cheese that I never would have considered adding cheese to in the first place, like BLTs and steak.

Annie

maxmom:
I think you said it right.

" I wonder if the young people these days who almost consider it a challenge to see just how hot they can eat stuff will, like the damage they say is done to the hearing because of loud music, damage their sense of taste. "

They are reversing many things. The latest I heard was the use of Sunscreen and Tanning Beds.
- - - - - - - - - - - -

I like to taste the Spices that were supposed to flavor the
meal and
use the napkin for my lips, not to wipe sweat off my face,
then say
" that was good, What the hell was it "

I think there s a difference between acquiring a taste for
different foods, drinks and
acquiring a taste for something that is physically irritating to the body.

I'd rather munch on a piece of Chocolate.

I think there was a Post on the CF about a member who was handling Jalepenos.
Her hands were on fire and she didn't know how to put out the flames. Can't remember who.
Guess she could have acquired a feeling for burning hands.

Lou

DH and I have been noticing the trend for hot spiced food increasing over the years. I don't mind if it is Mexican, Thai or Indian but not wild about it for everything. And even with those I prefer it mild. I don't want my steak covered in a black and hot pepper crust, thank you very much! I am finding that the older I get the less I can take hot and spicey foods. I won't go into details but when I do eat it, I always hope there is a empty restroom near by.
Clare

I'm with foodonastump - I like spicy food, but I can't handle anything with too much salt. For me, salt is much more offensive than anything hot. I can taste foods that are hot and spicy, but I have a very hard time tasting foods that have a lot of salt.

Lars

Clare:
Why the empty Rest Room nearby ??? Do you have to Rest after eating hot stuff ? LOL
Lou