response 65 of 163:

Jul 18 12:24 UTC 2003

Re #62:  You habituate to capsaicin, but it isn't permanent at all.  If you
         go off hot peppers, you will eventually lose your tolerance for
         them and have to build it back up.  I've seen it happen to people
         I know well.  (It's happened to me; I still eat very hot food, but
         not as hot as I was for a while, back when La Casita De Lupe was
         doing special pepper dishes.  I could get there again, but it 
         would take time.)  One person can't order dishes at "hot" in a
         lot of restaurants now, even though she used to, because she
         didn't for a while.

         Arthritics use capsaicin, but it doesn't affect them permanently
         either.

response 67 of 163:

Jul 18 13:46 UTC 2003

Keesan, I sometimes cook without hot peppers if I've run out of them. 
It may reduce the flavor a little, but not so much that I still don't 
enjoy the food. However, I seem to be isolated in my opinion, but I've 
always been able to enjoy subtler flavors (that may be described as 
bland, by some Indians) than the average Indian does.

What I'm trying to get at is if you can't tolerate hot peppers at all, 
leave them out of the recipe. It might taste slightly different, but 
there are a whole lot of other flavors that you can enjoy. 

(Personally I think some people use too much chili, it kills the 
original flavor. Extra hot does not mean extra delicious)

response 69 of 163:

Jul 18 14:06 UTC 2003

On the few occasions that I eat there, "La Pinata" seemed to represent to me
the perfect embodiment of "Mich-Mex" cooking.  If a traveling Brit had
described Mexican food to an unimaginative German hausfrau, and she had
decided to make some, that's approximately what you would get.

response 71 of 163:

Jul 18 14:59 UTC 2003

Hi polytarp!

response 73 of 163:

Jul 18 15:50 UTC 2003

I guess I don't see your average Cornish pasty as "bland". Grin.

Actually, my personal trouble with Indian food is that something in the
spicing does not agree with my stomach. I am not sure what it is, so I can't
ask them to leave it out, but every time I've eaten at Raja Ranee or other
Indian restaraunts, I've felt ill afterwards. (And I'm sure the food was fine,
since it was only me.) 

I don't particularly like hot peppers as such, but I do like hot things, in
moderation, and I can eat a large chunk of wasabi and not mind. Too much. 

response 77 of 163:

Jul 18 21:28 UTC 2003

Regarding overweight children, I could gave 50 pounds without being
overweight, which means there are a lot of chubby kids around not classified
as overweight by the tables.

Another thing that makes some restaurant food inedible is heavy salting.  Tios
was so bad I needed a cup of water per bite.  I gave up after 2 bites.  Again,
they could let the eater put it in.  The Chinese buffet west of town is also
really salty.  The buffet includes strawberries (not salted) so every other
bite was a strawberry.  Or grape, or orange, or melon.  I was thinking of
washing the food in a bowl of water.

response 81 of 163:

Jul 19 03:16 UTC 2003

resp:62 The capsins, in particular, seem to improve blood 
circulation.  This is the purpose of cayenne supplements.

resp:74 and resp:76 You'll have to be more specific.  Black pepper is 
the peppercorn, which when picked in its unripened state makes black 
pepper.  When it is fully ripe, it is white, and ground for 'white 
pepper', which has less bite to it.

You're speaking of the bell peppers, Twila?  (I call them all chiles 
as the Mexicans do to avoid confusion with the peppercorn.)  Yes, 
those are sweet.  The chiles of heat are of many a variety-- from the 
fairly mild: anaheim, poblano, Hungarian wax, banana wax, peppercini, 
ancho; to the moderately hot: Cascabel, chilaca, pasilla, tabasco, 
chipotle, jalape o; to the really hot: cayenne, serrano (no joke), 
Thai, Penqu n; to the extremely hot: habenero and Scotch bonnet.  
(Thanks to 
http://www.allrecipes.com/cb/w2m/weeklyspecials/chilepeppers/default.as
p)
I'm sure this is not a completely exhaustive list, but it's pretty 
close.

response 83 of 163:

Jul 19 10:52 UTC 2003

I really like freshly-ground black pepper.  World of difference from stuff
in a shaker, almost a different spice.

response 85 of 163:

Jul 19 17:52 UTC 2003

Re #83:  I agree.  Tons of flavor.

response 87 of 163:

Jul 20 01:32 UTC 2003

(keesan) et al. might like China Gate, from which I just returned.  The Kung
Pao Chicken ("chef's spicy peanut sauce") was almost entirely un-spicy.

I was on dinner break (from the UGLi) and Steve's Lunch was closed --- I'd
forgotten they close at 8 now instead of 9 --- or else I probably would never
have gone there.  In any case, I won't be back.  Steve's isn't always as spicy
as I'd like, but at least it tastes like more than just slightly flavoured
meat.