Do you mean REALLY spicy food or, like, Chipotlé, or do you mean all the way down to mustards and BBQ sauce? 'cause the last two should probably be self-explanatory.
I would enjoy more spicy food if I could eat it, but I have a very low spice tolerance.
Apparently you can build an immunity to spiciness, natural or gained. I would guess that those who crave incredibly spicy foods have an immunity as such that they need something with a few more scovilles to get the same sensation that you or I enjoy on foods that are not necessarily considered spicy. Zesty foods, if you may. Though this is coming from an extremely spice-intolerant perspective.
I have no idea man. Honey bbq wings are about as far as I'll go and those aren't even really that spicy. Anything past that and there is no taste, just pure pain. I'm pretty sure a blazin buffalo wing from BW3's would literally kill me. I guess most people taste something there but there is no difference to me between straight up peppers and really spicy foods, it just hurts.
I've wondered this myself. Not because I hate the taste of it but because I hate the shits afterwards. When your asshole is burning it's time to ask, "Why the fuck am I eating this?"
Some people think it makes them look cooler whenever they eat something really spicy and their friends dont. Well in all seriousness, I actually have no clue.... I just put on hot sauce on food sometimes
You just need a tolerance, once you have that different levels of spiciness have distinct flavours, I love a good few Jalapeno or birdseye chillis on a sandwich or pizza they add sensation to food and that's what food is all about for me, the sensation of each bite.
And always remember that as a man saying "I don't like spicy food" is a more verbose way of saying "I have a vagina"
I use to hate spicy stuff, but as I've gotten a bit older I find the burn of a spicy food that has other great tastes to accompany it can really just give some foods an extra kick of goodness.
However, shit that's so spicy that all it is is spicy-ness... yeah, fuck that. No clue why someone would eat things that are just mega-spicy without any great taste to them.
I eat a lot of spicy food. I was raised in an Italian household where we grew our own hot peppers. It was always a part of weekend dinner to take either fresh or dried hot pepper and sprinkle it on my pasta to give it some zing. Why do I do it? It makes your tastebuds sing that's why. Now I don't like hot just for hots sake... it has to have a nice flavour to it. A good rule of thumb is you want your spicy scale to be at the point of sweat starting to drip down the back of your neck but before you have to start breathing through your mouth in short bursts.
In conclusion... I can't explain why I like it. It's just what I like!
One of our body's reaction to spicy food is to sweat, and this in turn helps cool us down. Notice how many cultures in hotter climates tend to eat spicy (as availability of spices). Once we start early, we get used to it.
It's interesting, because beer can have an off-putting taste too, but there seems to be this cultural thing with young people drinking lots of it. Eventually, you can develop a more refined appreciation for its taste. Different chilli will have different aromas and tastes as well. When it comes to eating extremely spicy, it can be in good sport, but the nuances are kind of lost. Similarly, strong coffee.
I understand less people who enjoy eating bitter cucumber raw.
Because it tastes great and it gives you a rush despite that feeling of pain. That's why I'm not afraid to add some habanero or ghost chili hot sauce on my eggs in the morning.
Of course I'll be the jerk to say that spice and heat are two different things. Something can be very spicy without pushing the Scoville units and vice versa.
Why do people do it? It's like the culinary equivalent of nu metal.
@baconbringer
I have no idea man. Honey bbq wings are about as far as I'll go and those aren't even really that spicy. Anything past that and there is no taste, just pure pain. I'm pretty sure a blazin buffalo wing from BW3's would literally kill me. I guess most people taste something there but there is no difference to me between straight up peppers and really spicy foods, it just hurts.
@xyzygy
I don't know. It's so painful. Although what Akrid says is true, you can build immunity. But WHY you'd want to do that is beyond me.
@ShadowConqueror
Thank you! It seems like whenever I say I don't like spicy food, people act like I'm crazy. I don't want to be in pain while I eat, thank you.
Ok, I can actually answer this as someone who hated spicy food, until recently, and have developed a taste for it. Obviously initially it's just painful, but after a few servings of something you can tolerate, one of the milder sauces, you begin to want more and spicier. I'm now at a mild-mid range level, which isn't very impressive I know, but I am continually trying more. Describing the actual taste is more difficult. It suffices to say it isn't just 'pain'. Also note, difference spices have different effects, for example curry spice isn't the same as Thai spice, or wing spice.
Only if you explain to me how some people can like bland food. Like white rice and plain grilled chicken. Or my mother's favorite hamburger corn and potatoes (shepherd's pie as it is otherwise called, right?)
The only part of spicy foods I hate is getting a runny nose. Otherwise I like it, just not the crazy stuff that gets in the hundreds of thousands on the Scoville scale.
Very spicy food can be a much more intense experience than the normal stuff (e.g. sweating from the sheer flavorness of it). I would not necessarily say something being very hot is any sort of pain sensation. Just a good complement that changes the ye old bog standard experience.
Only if you explain to me how some people can like bland food. Like white rice and plain grilled chicken. Or my mother's favorite hamburger corn and potatoes (shepherd's pie as it is otherwise called, right?)
White rice & grilled chicken tend to go really well with something spicy, like curry, or a mix of grilled vegetables, with some hot peppers thrown in.
People tend to like spicy food because it "spices up" stuff that would be otherwise bland, like rice, chicken, shepard's pie, etc. Spicy food is tough to get accustomed to, but if you start small, like with dijon mustard and a dash of tabasco in your chili, and work your way up, eventually getting to where you can eat slices of jalepenos on sandwiches/burgers, or stomach those really amazing spicy curry dishes, your palate will thank you.
How spicy we talking, exactly? 'Cause some people spray mace on their food to get it spicy enough for them. As in weaponized, military grade, mace. We talking that spicy? We talking ghost pepper spicy? How far is TOO far?!
Because habanero sauce is orgasmic, and it hits that super fine line between pleasure and pain. (although my resistance has gotten too high, so I may need to graduate to ghost chili sauces at some point. Now that shit is flavorful.)
In all seriousness though, exposure usually breeds taste, and I was raised on an authentic-Mexican-heavy diet. I've grown to love the burn.
Being of Mexican descent, I just grew accustomed to the taste. It's no secret spicy is a key flavor of Mexican cuisine. That said, I don't enjoy the crazy spicy shit. Given a choice between mild, hot, and fire, I'll always go hot. Just enough to get a bit of a sting, but not enough to get those "fiery asshole shits" that have been previously mentioned here. Those really suck. My extended family's dinners are (sometimes) no fucking joke.
I love spicy food and I occasionally enjoy nu metal. Does that make me a bad person? It's not like I listened to more than two Linkin Park albums or anything...
I dunno...why do people eat anything besides rice gruel?
I don't mean that to sound glib or crass, but it's all kind of the same line of reasoning: because it's delicious. There's a whole world of amazing flavors in spice (and a lot of jag-offs who turn everything into a pissing contest).
A desire for endorphins combined with a slowly building tolerance to spiciness is what leads most people to crave spicy food. Some people are born in to a culture of spicy food like in Thailand, while others seek it out. Some people like to eat intensely hot peppers but these people are masochists. It's not so hard to fathom if you think about the difference between Frenches mustard and fancier brown mustard; the brown mustard has more flavor because of the spiciness.
I was eating a spicy chicken sandwich at Chick-Fil-A today and I wondered the same thing myself. I think part of it is that I'm a bit of a masochist. But also I've been eating bland tasteless stuff most of my life so I got fucking bored when I ate. Not to say anything that isn't spicy is bad, but these days when I eat something without a unique taste, I might as well be eating Styrofoam.
@Little_Socrates: I think hes talking about insane currys and stupid hot hot sauce that serves no purpose being that hot. I personally think when it gets that spicy, it's less enjoyment and more of a macho thing, believe me, my brother is one of them.
The burning sensation in your mouth amplifies the taste, making it better. I'll agree that people who are like OH MAN I EAT THE HOTTEST SHIT EVER IT WOULD MAKE THE AVERAGE PERSON PUKE, yes, that's fucking annoying. Being able to tolerate spiciness isn't something to be proud of, any more than liking candy is. It's just there.
What it comes down to, is spiciness can be good so long as it doesn't overwhelm the taste, but rather adds to it.
I never used to like spicy food, but as I've grown older I've begun to love it. I remember when the only thing I'd eat on an Indian menu was a Korma, now when I go for a curry I always pick something from the list of hottest curries. It's super tasty.
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