Guest guest Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 I just found I had to cook for a visitor, and since we didn't know what their tastes were with regard to spicy food, there was a request to " tone down the spice " . Which led me to wonder - the responses to the questionnaire/survey showed that most of the respondents liked spicy food, some liked very spicy food and others not at all. Which brings me to the question - what's your attitude to spicy food? do you make every day a spicy meal or just once in a while? do you " tone down " in the event of guests whose tastes in this matter are unknown? and what form do your spices usually take? Piers PS the recipe I made follows shortly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 22, 2009 Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 I'd eat spicy every day if I could. Frequently my wife cooks and she becomes perturbed if I tend to add something spicy to it. It seems her family preferred a rather bland diet so she thinks she's spicing it up a lot of it varies 5% from that norm. Whereas my spiciness goes into the 100%+ variation from her level of spiciness. Obviously a few problems on the menu front here. Mainly I grow a lot of hot peppers and I try to put them in everything. I also just like other spices of all varieties. I'm afraid subtlety is not in my vocabulary in that realm. I even try to tone down some of the things I make and frequently people say it is too spicy. I'm often amazed when I go to friends and they make, say, a spicy potato salad, at least spicy to them. I must keep my opinion to myself because more often than not, it is bland, bland, bland. I also grow and like to throw in various and sundry types of basil, thyme, oregano, sage, savory, mints, and much more that I grow in my back yard. Curries are excellent in my book also. Gary ________________________________ piersalgarve <piersalgarve Friday, August 21, 2009 8:52:49 AM Toning down the spice I just found I had to cook for a visitor, and since we didn't know what their tastes were with regard to spicy food, there was a request to " tone down the spice " . Which led me to wonder - the responses to the questionnaire/survey showed that most of the respondents liked spicy food, some liked very spicy food and others not at all. Which brings me to the question - what's your attitude to spicy food? do you make every day a spicy meal or just once in a while? do you " tone down " in the event of guests whose tastes in this matter are unknown? and what form do your spices usually take? Piers PS the recipe I made follows shortly. --- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 22, 2009 Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 I know what you mean about toning down spice for those not used to it or not liking it at all. Fortunately, on a day-to-day basis, that isn't necessary in our household since my husband and I both love things spicy (and we mean spicy HOT). For visitors, however, it can be a problem and we tend to just give a hint of spicy heat (*sigh*) and pass a spicy sauce and various spicy condiments. Even then . . . . How often do we cook spicy? Well, every day, sometimes for all three meals, usually just for two since breakfast tends to be fruit these days. I find that adding spicy heat to vegetarian/vegan food gives that zip that makes even the most recent vegetarian forget that they are leaving animal-flesh foods strictly out of the diet. For those making the transition from vegetarian to vegan - and bemoaning the loss of cheese - a little spice or preferably a lot of spice replaces that sharp tang that they miss in the stronger flavoured cheese products. Of course, non-dairy cheeses are available, but sometimes at first they taste a little alien to the palate imho. This is a good topic! I'd like to hear from others about how they use spice, when, etc., and what they do about the need sometimes for visitors to tone the spice down! All suggestions would be welcome. Best, Pat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 22, 2009 Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 Pat, You could've written my response for me! I'm the same way. Every meal is spicy except for breakfasts (however, on the rare occasion I make a tofu scramble, that'd be spicy too). I definitely tone things down when sharing my cooking. With Mom, I basically exclude *any* hots and garlic. (Also just learned she doesn't like coriander.) With the guys, they can take a little more heat, so I get away with it more, if only due to the " macho " factor. -Erin http://zenpawn.com/vegblog http://ShopVeganRaw.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 22, 2009 Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 Yes that's another kind of mixed household from the ones we were discussing - where one likes (very) spicy and the other not at all. That's not been my problem, I acquired a taste for spicy in the Indian restaurants in London (England) and then when I moved to Holland I met an Indonesian partner who likes spicy with (almost) everything. Now we're staying in Portugal and brought our sambal oelek with us - not necessary of course, you can get it here and they have their own piri-piri sauce which is as spicy as you can get. It turns out that in the past Portugal was a hub in the world hot pepper trade - the spices were imported from South America and then passed on to Africa, India and the Far East, " piri-piri " being the African name for the spicy dish. Even vindaloo, though it sounds very Indian, started life as the Portuguese dish " vinha d'alhos " made from wine and garlic and other ingredients I shan't mention here. The Indians in Goa spiced it up, modified the ingredients and name and exported it to the rest of the world. Which brings us back to those Indian restaurants again! Piers , Gary Mattingly <gsmattingly wrote: > > I'd eat spicy every day if I could. Frequently my wife > cooks and she becomes perturbed if I tend to add something > spicy to it. It seems her family preferred a rather bland > diet so she thinks she's spicing it up a lot of it varies 5% > from that norm. Whereas my spiciness goes into the 100%+ > variation from her level of spiciness. Obviously a few problems > on the menu front here. > > Mainly I grow a lot of hot peppers and I try to put them in > everything. I also just like other spices of all varieties. > I'm afraid subtlety is not in my vocabulary in that realm. > I even try to tone down some of the things I make and > frequently people say it is too spicy. I'm often amazed > when I go to friends and they make, say, a spicy potato > salad, at least spicy to them. I must keep my opinion to > myself because more often than not, it is bland, bland, bland. > > I also grow and like to throw in various and sundry types of > basil, thyme, oregano, sage, savory, mints, and much more > that I grow in my back yard. Curries are excellent in my book > also. > > Gary > > > > > ________________________________ > piersalgarve <piersalgarve > > Friday, August 21, 2009 8:52:49 AM > Toning down the spice > > I just found I had to cook for a visitor, and since we didn't know what their tastes were with regard to spicy food, there was a request to " tone down the spice " . Which led me to wonder - the responses to the questionnaire/survey showed that most of the respondents liked spicy food, some liked very spicy food and others not at all. > > Which brings me to the question - what's your attitude to spicy food? do you make every day a spicy meal or just once in a while? do you " tone down " in the event of guests whose tastes in this matter are unknown? and what form do your spices usually take? > > Piers > > PS the recipe I made follows shortly. > > > > --- > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 22, 2009 Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 I would tone it down, but have spicy condiments on the table for them to use if they wanted them. Patricia --- On Fri, 8/21/09, piersalgarve <piersalgarve wrote: piersalgarve <piersalgarve Toning down the spice Friday, August 21, 2009, 8:52 AM I just found I had to cook for a visitor, and since we didn't know what their tastes were with regard to spicy food, there was a request to " tone down the spice " . Which led me to wonder - the responses to the questionnaire/survey showed that most of the respondents liked spicy food, some liked very spicy food and others not at all. Which brings me to the question - what's your attitude to spicy food? do you make every day a spicy meal or just once in a while? do you " tone down " in the event of guests whose tastes in this matter are unknown? and what form do your spices usually take? Piers PS the recipe I made follows shortly. --- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 23, 2009 Report Share Posted August 23, 2009 Hi Piers, You sure do have the right past life and now live in the right part of the world AND have the best connections for being hooked on spicy food! It's funny how some of us come to it - or perhaps predictable I had a great uncle who had served in India (yup, British Army type - I can't help that, but he was a very nice old man and a favourite uncle when I was a little girl) and had brought back with him a huge taste for Indian spices. As a result, growing up around him I learned of curries (authentic and anglo-Indian) from an early age. Then I learned of other asian cusines from my first husband, who also liked them spicy as well as less so. Since then, I haven't looked back as far as spice is concerned. My husband and I love spices and if there's not enough in a dish to suit, then we reach for various condiments to help out. As a result, each meal is a thrill - although perhaps a little unconventional by some standards - and we don't hesitate to invent new dishes which may not be authentically any particular cusine but somehow taste just right to us. I have recently discovered a Trinidadian hot chile paste (a sample offered to a restaurateur we know and passed on to us) that turns an ordinary steamed dish into a feast. I am also looking for the piri-piri sauce mentioned; it should be readily available in our area, since there is quite a large Portuguese diaspara. For some reason I haven't got into the habit of having it in the kitchen. Sambal Oelek otoh is something that has been a *must* in our kitchen for many years now, also chipotles in adobo sauce. Mmmmmm-mmmmmm. Best, Pat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 24, 2009 Report Share Posted August 24, 2009 I'm lucky that my partner loves spicey food (now if only he would turn veg!). The kids are not keen on spicey food (they are 4 and 6 and newborn) but do like a variety of flavours (curry etc) so we are slowly introducing more heat for them. Of course, compared to their peers they have quite sophisticated pallets and can handle " spicey " for more than their friends (e.g., some friends can't handle cracked black pepper). I do not keep anything out of my diet now when breastfeeding or when I was pregnant. I find it odd that people assume I won't eat (for example) garlic when breastfeeding...my kids both love garlic and the latest addition isn't bothered by it at all. I also continue to eat spicey food now and during pregnancy with no problem. With company we have to remember to tone it down. I remember once when friends made chillie for us and kept apologising because it was so hot and spicey. It wasn't at all but we kept that to ourselves. Interesting discussion thread. Paula Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 24, 2009 Report Share Posted August 24, 2009 It seems like I read somewhere that what we eat when breast feeding helps the baby to experience different flavors. Patricia --- On Mon, 8/24/09, peej2e2 <johnsontew wrote: peej2e2 <johnsontew Re: Toning down the spice Monday, August 24, 2009, 9:32 AM I'm lucky that my partner loves spicey food (now if only he would turn veg!). The kids are not keen on spicey food (they are 4 and 6 and newborn) but do like a variety of flavours (curry etc) so we are slowly introducing more heat for them. Of course, compared to their peers they have quite sophisticated pallets and can handle " spicey " for more than their friends (e.g., some friends can't handle cracked black pepper). I do not keep anything out of my diet now when breastfeeding or when I was pregnant. I find it odd that people assume I won't eat (for example) garlic when breastfeeding...my kids both love garlic and the latest addition isn't bothered by it at all. I also continue to eat spicey food now and during pregnancy with no problem. With company we have to remember to tone it down. I remember once when friends made chillie for us and kept apologising because it was so hot and spicey. It wasn't at all but we kept that to ourselves. Interesting discussion thread. Paula --- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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