Pet Peeve: "Oh but it's not spicy, it's not hot. Eat it!"

[Manifestor_of_Light]

GRRRRRRR!

I cannot eat spicy food. I am allergic to the nightshade family, like bell peppers, tomatoes, spicy peppers, and such.

I used to eat pizza in high school with everything on it but pepperoni. It came back up about an hour later. Ick.

I had a former mother in law who cooked everything in grease and it was quite spicy.
I went to her house, took one bite, and ran to the sink to get a glass of water.

The stupid cow just looked at me like there was something wrong with ME.

Some people (here in Texas) assume that because they like hot stuff, everyone likes hot stuff, and can eat it. Nope.

I don't eat stringy, fatty meat either. And I'm allergic to shellfish as well.

Once I was at some peoples' house who said they had some takeout Chinese. It was takeout from P.F. Chang's. I had one bite of each of 3 or 4 things, and could not eat any of it.

Just from a few bites, I belched and burped all night. It was most unpleasant. I had to raid the fridge all night for glasses of milk.

People who urge me to eat spicy stuff don't know what they're saying. Eating spicy stuff really is BAD for me. Food allergies are no laughing matter either.

/END OF RANT/

:cry: :hide:

[buzzycrumbhunger]

1. Re: Chinese take-out

I bet that reaction was more from the MSG. I used to scoff at the ads for Prilosec et al because "it's just a little gas," but made the mistake of eating a handful of freakin' Lays barbecue potato chips once (yep, darned it they're not full of the stuff) and belched fire for three days. The first night, I couldn't even lie down because battery acid just roiled out of me (yes, as in pukage--but with no heaves, just bubbling up). That stuff is nasty. "Chinese restaurant syndrome" is a very real phenomenon and I have a friend who managed to be carted off with a supposed heart attack because of it.

Sorry about the spicy thing. I don't know that I could live without heat.

[trof]

2. I don't urge. I warn.

"I don't find this too hot/spicy, but you might. Take a little taste if you want to try it."
Sorry you have a digestive disorder.

[siligut]

3. People can be unrealistic about the allergies of other people.

They don’t realize it is real and not just a food preference. I have to be careful with the nightshade family too, arthritis is my reaction. Eggplant and bell peppers are the worst for me. My sympathies, you are not alone, people just don’t realize, even when you tell them, they think a little bit is OK.

[LeftyMom]

4. Unfortunately many people don't take allergies seriously.

The problem is made worse by people who have food aversions and use allergies as an excuse not to eat things they simply don't like.

The answer is simple: let people eat what they want. Don't get offended or demand explanations if they choose to skip a dish.

[Mike 03]

5. Who could blame you? My dad is like you, he cannot tolerate spicy foods, and

he does not like to be "pushed" into eating them.

Although I love hot, spicy foods, there is some science that backs up the notion that they might not be all that great for the health of our gastroentrological (or however you spell it) tracts.

People can be very unempathetic sometimes, especially when they don't know suffer from the thing you suffer from.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

7. My dad was allergic to tomatoes, like I am.

He couldn't eat pizza either.

And didn't like spicy food. Guess I inherited that from him.

Mom was always trying to get me to try raw onions and bell peppers. GAK!!

Didn't work.

However, I love onions sauteed in butter. They are yummy.

Grandma was the worst. She was a terrible cook (from Mississippi -- boiled everything to death) and I don't think she cooked anything I could eat. Maybe potatoes and iceberg lettuce. She only served "greens", never raw spinach or broccoli. We had pitched battles over everything she served at her house, three times a day. She thought she was running a prison. The girls were all forced to march around the kitchen 3 times a day to "help" her fix meals. The kitchen is too small for more than one person to scurry. The important thing was to dominate and oppress all the females, to make sure they know what their place is.
She cooked stringy, crappy meat too.

When I eat things I am allergic to, the next day I feel horrible and have to stay in bed. I feel like I've been run over.

[crispini]

6. Well, of course people shouldn't tell you to eat something you can't, BUT,

to clarify a point re: Texans, I *do* think that there is a completely different definition of "spicy" down here than there is in the rest of the country. I guess you just get sort of acclimated to it or something. I only know this because a Canadian co-worker came to visit and informed me that absolutely everything we ate is spicy, including things that, to my taste, were not spicy at all.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

8. I hate spicy/hot food, but I'm not allergic to it.

I just don't find the sensation of having my mouth on fire to be in any way pleasant. I have a low tolerance for spice...that's what you get for living in a cultural wasteland. Had real Mexican once in California and thought I'd keeled over and died; the base food was excellent, but the spice...holy shit.

:D

[blondeatlast]

9. It pisses me off royally when people insist on anyone eating anything.

I'm always urged to eat rich, decadent sweets. I don't want to make my medical history an issue--but my medical history is why I don't eat rich, sugary, decadent food.

So why the hell isn't a polite "No thank you" enough? Why must people insist until I tell them--and the they are embarrassed or even ANGRY?

:mad:

[Manifestor_of_Light]

11. Because they are nosy assholes.

Some people just can't handle people who are DIFFERENT from them in any way.

I had some inlaws get MAD at me when I said "I'm not going to eat so much that I get SICK FROM IT!!!" after they urged me to get a second plateful at Thanksgiving.

:wtf:

[alphafemale]

10. I empathize, but I Lurve the spicy!

My problem at restaurants is the opposite, getting them to make it spicy enough. Most of the time the menu symbol with the little pepper icon is a lie and a half. Except for Thai. They don't play. Lurve me some Thai food.

[Fire Walk With Me]

12. Definitely.

Sometimes restaurants get it right in the "genuinely hot and spicy" department, but very rarely.

Me? I want to see through time, to paraphrase Lisa Simpson.

[MadMaddie]

17. I live in the Seattle Area

And we have Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Phillapeno and many other eateries

Did you know that these restraunts have a unspoken tiered system of hot? For example if an African American or someone White orders lets' say a 5, 5 being the hottest and 1 the mildest - The 5 this group orders is hot but it's not the same as if someone Chinese, Vietnamese or Thai orders a 5 - That 5 is like a double ass burner......it frightens me....

[alphafemale]

18. My kids are pretty much grown now but when they were small...

The kitchen help would come out to watch them eat the spicy...

My son...at three would add extra black pepper (and vinegar) to his Hot & Sour Soup and eat it while wiping the tears from his eyes. He'd also wipe his tongue. My daughter would also eat the spicy. The staff would almost always send over a sliced orange at the end of one of those meals.

They are 18 and 21 now and still lurve the spicy.

[MadMaddie]

19. I do lurve it but man at 43 I pay for it....hearburn for days...

I actually do the taste test for my spouse....just to make sure it's not hot.

[alphafemale]

21. I've been lucky so far. The only thing that fouls up my system at this point is cucumber.

Ick.

[grace0418]

41. Yeah, if we want something to actually be spicy, my husband (who's Filipino) will

order it. If I (the white girl) order it, it comes out about one tenth as spicy. There is one Szechuan place we like that makes no concessions for anyone. If you order the dried chili chicken, a giant haystack of chili papers will come out with bits of the most insanely delicious chicken, garlic and ginger inside. I love that place, but you pretty much have to expect the flanus for 24 hours afterward.

[siligut]

43. Flanus? That is an instant classic, and needs to go right into the new words section!

Great word, and spot on. Just to add, for anyone who suffers the flanus poorly, you don’t need hemorrhoids for hemorrhoid suppositories to help.

[grace0418]

47. Thank you. My friend Peter and I coined that after a very delicious meal at an

Indian buffet. Oh, and, by the way, I meant chili PEPPERS not papers. :)

[MadMaddie]

53. Ha..Ha.. I agree Flanus is a keeper!!

[cemaphonic]

59. This happens in a bunch of places.

A friend of mine in DC once spent a good five minutes in an Indian restaurant making sure the waiter would get the cook to prepare his vindaloo like he would make it at home, and it wound up way hotter than anything I've ever had at an Indian place.

My favorite Thai in Seattle is Siam on Broadway. I have yet to find another restaurant that does a Panang curry half as well as they do.

[DevonRex]

13. "Head cheese is good, really!"

And then they practically block the door so you have to try it before they let you leave.

So, your little spicy problem is nothing I tell you.

:hi:

[MineralMan]

15. Head Cheese IS good.

But it certainly doesn't suit everyone, and is not something I would even offer to someone without knowing in advance that they enjoyed it. Of course, with a cluster of in-laws with Norwegian ancestry, it's not a problem. A little sylte is always appropriate. It's wise to have some other delicacies around though, for spouses of these Norsky folks. :hi:

[DevonRex]

20. I wonder if there's a difference between Norse head cheese and

Mississippi head cheese. There must be. :)

[MineralMan]

38. I'm pretty sure there are differences, but

I don't know what they are. These days, the norwegian version isn't even made with parts of the head, but with pork shoulder.

Oscar Meyer used to have headcheese in a blister pack with their other sliced cold cuts in the supermarket. Now, that was made with head ingredients. Reading the ingredient list was a lesson in porcine anatomy. It was good, too, slathered with some mustard.

[DevonRex]

40. Well then, there IS a difference. These people slaughter their own

livestock and butcher them. And yes, they boil the actual heads. They didn't tell me that until AFTER I gave in and took a bite of head cheese on a cracker. I left as soon as I could and went upstairs to my apartment. Barely made it to the bathroom before I threw up. All I could think of was a head bobbing around in boiling water and that was it for me.

I think they told me it was a cow's head, but I could be wrong about that.

[MineralMan]

44. Nobody should be coerced or cajoled into eating

something that disgusts them. I like head cheese, but recognize that others gag at just the idea of it. I eat it rarely, because I don't want to offend by having it in the fridge.

Take it from me, though: avoid looking at the ingredients lists of cold cuts, OK?

[DevonRex]

45. Too late. It's been 25 years since I ate bologna or regular hot dogs.

Yeah, I have one of those really strong gag reflexes. And it's always the "thought" of something that does it, not the taste. Like that head bobbing around in boiling water. In my mind, the cow still had its fur, or hide or whatever you call it, on the head. Then I thought about the eyes. Big, big mistake.

I have found those Emeril gourmet chicken sausages. I love those. But I still haven't looked at the ingredients on the back. I decided to take Emeril's word that they're all white meat chicken.

I used to love hot dogs and really missed them.

[Marrah_G]

34. Ewwwwwwww

My ex's french canadian grandmother would make that for him. They would also eat pigs feet in gravy (ragu?)and other nasty things. Oh yeah....and pea soup that looked like vomit. I still save my hambones for the ex so he can make his "memere's" pea soup.

I just cringed and refused to open my mouth when they would try and insist (good naturedly) that I take a bite!

[DevonRex]

39. Your refusal shows how wise you are. Seriously, it's just awful.

Hey, let's boil a head and make food out of whatever comes out! What the hell???

[MineralMan]

14. That's really too bad. People should always try to cook

in a way that is OK with their guests. My wife and I love having other couples over for meals. I'm the cook, and she's the social director. Whenever someone is coming over for the first time, she asks them if they have any food allergies or dislikes, and I adapt the menu to suit.

I've fed everyone from vegans to people who take great pleasure out of bizarre foods. We have a little database of our guests' preferences so we only have to ask once.

Peppers are something that people either like or don't like. I would never try to get someone who did not like heat in their food to try spicy food. There are plenty of cuisines that avoid such things.

It's unforgivable to try to coax someone into eating something that is disagreeable to them. If someone doesn't like a dish, nothing needs to be said about it.

[ghostsofgiants]

16. My mom is in the same boat.

I gave my brother a bottle of hot sauce (some really nasty hot stuff) and she wouldn't go anywhere near it while we were cooking with it. She blows up like a balloon, apparently. It sucks for her though because she really likes spicy/hot stuff.

Meh, we spicy food eaters will probably have a lifetime of gastrointestinal problems ahead of us anyay. :P

[FloridaJudy]

24. I once had a gastroenterologist tell me

That spicy foods were actually good for you. He cited studies from India that showed those who favored the more peppery cuisine had a lower incidence of ulcers and other chronic GI problems. Of course, it could well be that the spices killed off harmful bacteria and parasites, since much of India lacks American standards of refrigeration/air conditioning.

I have a problem with cruciferous vegetables. It's not a true allergy, but the effects are distressing enough (and it's not just gas: Beano doesn't help a bit). I love the stuff, but my body just can't handle it.

People who insist that others eat stuff that they've politely declined really need a lesson in manners.

[Withywindle]

26. My biggest pet peeve is women who need to be told "no thank you" more than twice.

Seriously - I know a bunch of these folks at work, but I've had some friends who do this too.

People who shove food on you, and when you say "no thank you" make presumptuous comments about your body type, and JUST. WON'T. STOP. PUSHING.

First time, I say politely, "No thank you," as I was raised right.

Second time, I say the same thing, but maybe a little louder.

Third time, ALL BETS ARE OFF.

It is ALWAYS women who do this, never men. I find it way more tedious and annoying than being hit on sexually as men do, for a couple reasons: (1) sex is way more interesting than food (DUH!) so if I want some pushing, that's what I'll accept it for, and (2) sex is way more personal, so it's way more socially acceptable to tell an unwanted sex pusher to FUCK OFF YOU FUCKING FUCKER...which is what I *want* to say to the lady shoving nasty stale bland lo-fat whatever in my face, but it's less acceptable to do so.

[ghostsofgiants]

46. Oooh, interesting.

That's good news for me, haha.

And I agree completely, insisting that someone eat something is very rude.

[csziggy]

22. Same here - and have been through the same thing

I get blisters from peppers. Not just in my mouth - all the way through. Eating food with pepper can cause me pain for at least 24 hours if not more. :hurts:

My other pet peeve is I will warn/remind friends that I am allergic to peppers and they leave ALL spices out of the dish. I love most herbs and spices and have no problem with any not in the pepper family so bland, unflavored food is annoying.

When I attended a conference in Santa Fe and notified them of my allergy, they remembered a special dish for the opening banquet but forgot for the closing one. No banquet meal for me - and I could not leave since I was getting an award. They did refund my banquet fee, but still it was truly annoying.

[Withywindle]

23. yeah, but you gotta realize that "hot" and "spicy" are relative and subjective.

what is "hot" to you probably isn't to me, cause I grew up eating spicy stuff and am inured to it up to certain levels.

If you have long lists of things you cannot eat, you need to let everyone who might be cooking for you know AHEAD OF TIME - you can't blame your mother-in-law for being upset that you reacted badly to her cooking, if you didn't give her any advance warning that you had such specific --and uncommon-- limitations! How could she have known? She probably just cooked for you the same food her family's been eating for generations, and I don't blame her for being a little insulted if you rejected it with no explanation.

And honestly, if the list you gave me was too damn long, I'd just suggest eating out.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

28. I had told her several times previously.

And so had her daughter (my sister in law).

What I heard back: "Well, if she can't eat red pepper, we can put black pepper in it."

:banghead:

I don't know if she was wilfully ignoring me or just too damned stupid to change.

She was from Nebraska.

:hide:

[Manifestor_of_Light]

55. Oh lordy, eating out is worse.

[cemaphonic]

60. Plus, some people use spicy to mean "has spices in it"

even if they are mild ones like cumin or oregano or something like that, while others mean "has a bunch of capsicum in it."

[rcrush]

25. I have those reactions to milk.

Milk is so gross. Who the hell wants to drink white stuff from a cow?

[Jamastiene]

33. I do, but I wouldn't force anyone else to drink it.

Hell, if you don't, that's more milk for me. :D

[Drunken Irishman]

27. Pfft, suck it up!

;)

[Manifestor_of_Light]

29. Look dude....

you REALLY don't want me to barf all over you.

You don't.

I am extremely loud and sound like I'm dying.

You really don't.......

[Jamastiene]

30. You will want to remind me of this if you ever eat at my house.

I love bell peppers, tomatoes, and other "not TOO hot" ingredients. I also sneak cayenne in sometimes. So, remind me and I won't. Deal? :hi:

[zanne]

31. I hear ya'

I'm a meat and potatoes kind of person and I have very "New England" taste buds. Every once in awhile, somebody in a group will order pizza and there's always something really hot on it, but I don't find out until I have a mouth full of flaming peppers. I just don't see the point. If I eat something that hot, I can't taste anything but HOT and it takes awhile for my taste buds to recover. I say "If your food has nothing to hide, it doesn't have to be hot".

[WritingIsMyReligion]

32. Yes! New England food!

I think our tastebuds must be malformed, because I too cannot handle "hot" things (and I'm sure what I find to be "hot" is laughably not to many people who are used to such things). It's just like you said: all you can taste afterwards is HOT. Really pointless and kind of horrible.

:)

[Manifestor_of_Light]

57. I think I'm with ya!!

My dad was from NE Ohio, mom was from East TX, but neither of them ate spicy stuff.

It's amazing how hard it can be to get plain old American food, as I call it.

My daughter has tried to get me to try sushi. It still tastes like raw fish to me.

If I walk by my BF who is eating smoked oysters, the merest whiff of it will make me gag.

He goes outside to eat them. :D

[RebelOne]

35. I love hot, spicy food and fortunately, I am not allergic to it.

However, it does affect me later when it's on the way out of my stomach. But I eat it anyway.

[grace0418]

42. My husband and I refer to that as...

The Flanus. Doesn't stop us from eating Thai, Indian, Ethiopian or Sze Chuan though.

[SOteric]

36. I can sympathise.

I have some eating restrictions based on health factors myself. And because I'm a woman and tend toward the thin, there are some who persist in thinking it's an eating disorder or vanity, and proceed to badger me about my picky eating.

Some folks just need to get their noses out of other people's eating habits.

[SoxFan]

37. June 1995: Sneaky Potatoes

The week my wife and I got married, a contingent of my relatives trooped down to New Orleans from Mass and New Hampshire, along with a cousin from Ireland. My wife's grandfather hosted a Louisiana crawfish boil for everyone.

To this day, my father's Boston Irish sensibilities remain offended by the notion that a potato could ever become spicy. "Sneaky potatoes" is how he termed the potatoes that were cooked in the spices along with the crawfish.

[PVnRT]

48. I get tired of people who confuse "heat" with "flavor"

Especially restaurants who will put insane amounts of heat into food to substitute for the fact that it tastes like dogshit. And you have the idiots claiming it's the best food they've ever had and tastes soooooo good - no it doesn't, jackass, you don't taste anything because your tongue is registering PAINPAINPAINPAIN while you're eating. Take your Ultrahot Nuclear Wings, I'll take the Parmesan garlic sauce and actually like what I'm eating.

As for people pushing food on you, I'm there too. Fuck you. I don't want to eat it.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

56. That's an excellent point.

I'm still looking for spices to put on food that are not hot.

So far, I'm at: sauteed onions, garlic in small amounts, standard green herbs, and salt free Spike.

I like ginger (in small amounts) and cinnamon.

Any suggestions?

Every time I eat Indian food, my stomach feels strange from the weird spices. They aren't necessarily hot but they are uncomfortable.

[PVnRT]

63. Try some fennel or leek

They fairly mild, kind of like onions, and taste decent. In fact, just about any aromatic like that should work. Other than that, the standards, like basil, thyme, etc.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

58. I had a bad reaction from some Chili's nachos not long ago.

I got beef and cheese nachos with no hot peppers on them.

I thought that would be ok. I was wrong.

I don't know what kind of yucky spice they had in them, but all night I was up and my guts were rumbling.

[cemaphonic]

61. Yeah, the point of hot spices is to enhance the flavor, not drown it out.

I make some great recipes that wouldn't really work without a Scotch Bonnet, and that is a pretty damn hot pepper, but it's actually cooked with the other ingredients, which moderates the heat, and blends the flavors (since that pepper in particular has a much more complex flavor than just "hot.")

Pouring a bunch of hot sauce or cayenne at the last minute like many restaurants with "spicy" food just ruins it, totally drowning out anything else. The idiots that claim to like it are probably a combination of machismo and endorphin rush as your body tries to deal with you burning the crap out of your mouth.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

49. do you tell them you are ALLERGIC? because in my experience i have found that people are more

respectful of allergies than personal tastes.

so i advise people (even those who are not allergic to something) to say very loudly and clearly their actual allergies

sorry, people make you eat things that make you sick. not at all nice.

[undeterred]

50. Some of these people burned all their taste buds off a long time ago.

[Shell Beau]

51. That must really stink for you!

A lot of foods contain thosr types of spices. What do you consider mild?

[FloridaJudy]

52. Worse than the Food Pushers

Are those louts who get huffy and offended by those who refuse to drink with them. Look, there are a lot of us who don't drink alcohol, usually for reasons that are none of your damned business. We may avoid it for health reasons, religious beliefs, or simply because we find the effects unpleasant.

Please, please, please don't insist, and don't tell us "a little sip won't hurt you". Sometimes it can. And if I'm pregnant/alcoholic/Moslem/taking Flagyl, I may not want to share that you. And pretty please, tell us if there's rum in the punch, brandy in the fruitcake or sherry in the trifle before we take a bite or a swig. You probably wouldn't appreciate my projectile vomiting all over your lovely living room, so it's in your own interest to be upfront.

This does seem to be a lot less common than it used to be, but I still encounter this attitude - and the stealth booze - from time to time.

[backscatter712]

54. Taste for heat varies quite a bit!

My brother in law has some GI issues, and can't tolerate spicy food at all. OTOH, my best friend is a real hot-sauce addict. I guess I'm somewhere in the middle - I do like some heat. Some of the stuff that people complain about being too hot, I can't taste the heat at all. Then my best friend heats his food up to his tastes, and dares me to try it... :grr: :hurts:

[Lil Missy]

62. I take it then that you would not like my famous HOT potato soup.

It's loaded with red peppers and cayenne. And just as hot coming out as it is going in!

:nuke: :nuke: