I once went to a little hole in the wall Thai restaurant on the north end of Toledo. I ordered Panang or the closest thing I could find on the menu, as is my wont. They asked how spicy I wanted it and, having had far too many Americanized “extra spicy” dishes, I said as spicy as they could.
Now, this food was really good. But half way through the bowl, and having already drained the solitary glass of water they deigned to deliver to my table, I saw God. Which is intense for an atheist.
I finished the whole thing. I’m not sure if I was trying to prove something to myself or to them. I never got a single drop of water after that first cup, but I ate every ice cube.
Another time, I was in Thailand at a fancy restaurant. Eating Thai in America is different from eating it in Thailand. Different ingredients, different styles. And on the table was a small bowl of teeny peppers. I took them to be similar to pickled jalapeños, so I put a few onto my plate to mix with my food.
They were not pickled. Or least by the time I could taste again, I detected no brine. I don’t know what they were suspended in, but I can only assume it was secreted from the glands of a hell-beast, or perhaps squeezed out of an elemental ur-pepper.
My point is not to marvel at the myriad ways I’ve tried to kill myself with Thai food, but just to say I’ve never had a spicy shit in my life.
It could be some people digest capsaicin more than others. I’ve had my fair share of the (I want to say) second highest types of spicy. Your ghost peppers, your birds eyes, Thai red chillis, etc. Hardly anything over a million scoville. I get the afterburn from some of it. But one time, I got a Nashville chicken sandwich from a hole in the wall place that popped up during COVID. It was so hot I was running around the room for half an hour, and for the first time in my life, I felt the spice in my urethra when I peed afterwards. I’ll never forget it.
It really depends on the chili for me. Certain chilies can be very spicy but short lived, and others are medium but just destroy my guts for the next day or two. I think it might also have to do with the amount of oil in a dish?
Once I got older yeah, even peed spice one time when the dude at the Thai restaurant warned me several times about a dish and I dismissed him because I had spicy Thai before. Turns out I didnt and the next morning I peed spice then shat lava.
My body can’t take the heat anymore which sucks because I can’t really taste spice anymore since covid, I mostly just feel it on my lips and throat which warns me to take it easy
Diddlydee@feddit.uk 2 months ago
I enjoy a phaal, so no.
MagicShel@lemmy.zip 2 months ago
I once went to a little hole in the wall Thai restaurant on the north end of Toledo. I ordered Panang or the closest thing I could find on the menu, as is my wont. They asked how spicy I wanted it and, having had far too many Americanized “extra spicy” dishes, I said as spicy as they could.
Now, this food was really good. But half way through the bowl, and having already drained the solitary glass of water they deigned to deliver to my table, I saw God. Which is intense for an atheist.
I finished the whole thing. I’m not sure if I was trying to prove something to myself or to them. I never got a single drop of water after that first cup, but I ate every ice cube.
Another time, I was in Thailand at a fancy restaurant. Eating Thai in America is different from eating it in Thailand. Different ingredients, different styles. And on the table was a small bowl of teeny peppers. I took them to be similar to pickled jalapeños, so I put a few onto my plate to mix with my food.
They were not pickled. Or least by the time I could taste again, I detected no brine. I don’t know what they were suspended in, but I can only assume it was secreted from the glands of a hell-beast, or perhaps squeezed out of an elemental ur-pepper.
My point is not to marvel at the myriad ways I’ve tried to kill myself with Thai food, but just to say I’ve never had a spicy shit in my life.
yakko@feddit.uk 2 months ago
This was a fun read, thanks.
It could be some people digest capsaicin more than others. I’ve had my fair share of the (I want to say) second highest types of spicy. Your ghost peppers, your birds eyes, Thai red chillis, etc. Hardly anything over a million scoville. I get the afterburn from some of it. But one time, I got a Nashville chicken sandwich from a hole in the wall place that popped up during COVID. It was so hot I was running around the room for half an hour, and for the first time in my life, I felt the spice in my urethra when I peed afterwards. I’ll never forget it.
kiwifoxtrot@lemmy.world 2 months ago
It really depends on the chili for me. Certain chilies can be very spicy but short lived, and others are medium but just destroy my guts for the next day or two. I think it might also have to do with the amount of oil in a dish?
Ephera@lemmy.ml 2 months ago
Capsaicin (the chemical that causes the heat sensation in chilis) is soluble in oil, so it can definitely play a role.
fascicle@leminal.space 2 months ago
Once I got older yeah, even peed spice one time when the dude at the Thai restaurant warned me several times about a dish and I dismissed him because I had spicy Thai before. Turns out I didnt and the next morning I peed spice then shat lava.
My body can’t take the heat anymore which sucks because I can’t really taste spice anymore since covid, I mostly just feel it on my lips and throat which warns me to take it easy
Venator@lemmy.nz 2 months ago
Oh probably just desensitised gradually enough or early enough to not notice/remember it then 😅