Looking for spicy food fans for my story

Hi,

I'm a reporter with the RedEye and I'm doing a feature story on spicy/hot food and why certain people tend to like it so much. I'm especially looking for people who are addicted to spicy food or like to try the hottest food imaginable.

Please contact me if you fit this description or know someone else that may be willing to talk to me about it.

-Ryan Smith
Freelance writer,
(drsmith77@gmail.com)

RyanRedEye wrote:Hi,

I'm a reporter with the RedEye and I'm doing a feature story on spicy/hot food and why certain people tend to like it so much. I'm especially looking for people who are addicted to spicy food or like to try the hottest food imaginable.

Please contact me if you fit this description or know someone else that may be willing to talk to me about it.

-Ryan Smith
Freelance writer, Red Eye
(drsmith77@gmail.com)

It seems to me the people you describe might fit better into that trendy, ridiculous machismo-toxic category of "extremity" afficionados...those "men," generally playing "whose is biggest" vis a vis capsaicin ingestion. That "gamesmanship" has about as much to do with gastronomy as Food Network's absurd 3 dimensional design dessert challenges do. Maybe try a "sports" profile?

Christopher Gordon wrote:

RyanRedEye wrote:Hi,

I'm a reporter with the RedEye and I'm doing a feature story on spicy/hot food and why certain people tend to like it so much. I'm especially looking for people who are addicted to spicy food or like to try the hottest food imaginable.

Please contact me if you fit this description or know someone else that may be willing to talk to me about it.

-Ryan Smith
Freelance writer, Red Eye
(drsmith77@gmail.com)

It seems to me the people you describe might fit better into that trendy, ridiculous machismo-toxic category of "extremity" afficionados...those "men," generally playing "whose is biggest" vis a vis capsaicin ingestion. That "gamesmanship" has about as much to do with gastronomy as Food Network's absurd 3 dimensional design dessert challenges do. Maybe try a "sports" profile?

Now, now... be nice!

(Not that I disagree )

Ryan - welcome to the board. You can contact me on this one, but only if you can figure out the private message system, demonstrate that you've done some reading on existing content here, and promise to give LTHForum due props in the article (and I encourage you to do this no matter who speaks with you, if you discovered them through this post).

Dmnkly wrote:

Christopher Gordon wrote:

RyanRedEye wrote:Hi,

I'm a reporter with the RedEye and I'm doing a feature story on spicy/hot food and why certain people tend to like it so much. I'm especially looking for people who are addicted to spicy food or like to try the hottest food imaginable.

Please contact me if you fit this description or know someone else that may be willing to talk to me about it.

-Ryan Smith
Freelance writer, Red Eye
(drsmith77@gmail.com)

It seems to me the people you describe might fit better into that trendy, ridiculous machismo-toxic category of "extremity" afficionados...those "men," generally playing "whose is biggest" vis a vis capsaicin ingestion. That "gamesmanship" has about as much to do with gastronomy as Food Network's absurd 3 dimensional design dessert challenges do. Maybe try a "sports" profile?

Now, now... be nice!

(Not that I disagree )

"be nice"

I know...I know...

but, this whole hot sauce trend irritates me no end. I'm a spicy foods afficianado...find myself dumbing down my cuisine when I cook for others...find myself irritated that others can't take a smidgen of the heat that I enjoy...

however...this juvenile hot sauce oneupsmanship and it's concomitant culture has absolutely nothing to do with food...it's become cliche' among middle management types to boast how much they can "take"

Office Space Part Deux, anyone?




is phaal available in Chicago?

I'd be game for an interview, but I'm on vacation for a week. If this is OK, PM me.

There's another side to the addiction: constant application versus maximum dose. I find there are few meals that don't get a zing:
* Extra black pepper or a jolt of hot sauce on the eggs.
* Crushed red pepper on pizza and pasta
* Giardinera, sport peppers, pepperoncini, sriracha, etc. on sandwiches
* Going out to eat, it's going to have some spice, whether it's Thai, Korean, Mexican, Sichuan...

I don't need to test my limits (but I don't shirk from a "La La La" dish at Lao Sze Chuan either). I have had my limits exceeded on rare occasions (Sri Lankan in Minneapolis, the occasional overspicing at home, the Tom Yum [I think] at Lotus of Siam in Vegas), but feel no need to ever buy a bottle of "Liquid Stupid".

Then again, I'm an equal opportunity heavy seasoner (except salt. like it, don't crave it): Garlic can't be taken to excess. Ginger or Cilantro as a vegetable? Sure. Cardamom is frosty, cumin is desert heat.

Ryan, have you thought about going to stores/restaurants and asking people who work there for observations about what is popular these days in the way of hot condiments? This is kind of an old story. And, just my opinion, but features where the reporter has gathered emails from a bunch of random people are way too common; it's nice to see some legwork.

Ryanredeye.

Welcome to LTH.

Here's a suggestion: there are some posts up right now about spicy foods. Perhaps you could contact the original posters directly and get their input. You might start with Binko's recent post about a most excellent-sounding (and spicy) Hungarian soup:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=18014

Good luck on your research.

Hammond

Reminds me of this thread:

Jake Melnick's Hot Wings

JoelF wrote:I have had my limits exceeded on rare occasions (Sri Lankan in Minneapolis...

I know the place you speak of.
You are not kidding, my friend.

johnny wrote:I know the place you speak of.
You are not kidding, my friend.

Sadly Ceylon is gone. Only got to eat there once. Their food was rated on a 1-7 heat scale, and I think we ordered a 2 and a 4 or 5... the spicier dish left my lips afire for two hours. I should have known I was in trouble when the travel posters of Sri Lanka on the wall showed a marketplace with acres of dried bright red peppers.

I actually referred Ryan over here after he contacted me through Yelp. I spoke with him for a few minutes yesterday, explaining that while I'm a hot food lover, I'm far more about the flavor that chilis bring to food than about just making it red hot.

That said, I think that he is looking for those who are real chili heads. Those driven by the addiction and endorphin rush that really hot food brings to the table for some folks.

I have referred him to a couple of places that serve good food that is also spicy: TAC, Lao Szechuan, and Frontera for starters. He indicated to me that he is including Melnick's in his story. I can't blame him. If you're doing a story on hot food and hot food lovers, how can one ignore a place that requires one to sign a waiver before consuming their wings.

Hey all,

Thanks for your help...I've gotten a few emails with suggestions and heard from people who don't mind being interviewed.

FYI, I'm not building the story around emailed responses from people on this board. I am visiting Melnick's next week, I'm also going to visit HeavenonSeven and a couple other restaurants.

I am also going to speak to a couple different food or nutrition scientists and experts and going to talk about what spicy food does to you physically. I'm also speaking with chefs from a couple different culinary schools to get their take.

I think this is interesting that there is this group of people who are against this trend of super ridiculous hot food and see it as "juvenile hot sauce oneupmanship." I'd like to speak with you too if you feel this way to add some different perspectives to my piece.

Also, my deadline is this upcoming Friday.

Thanks again,

-Ryan

Christopher Gordon wrote:It seems to me the people you describe might fit better into that trendy, ridiculous machismo-toxic category of "extremity" afficionados... those "men," generally playing "whose is biggest" vis a vis capsaicin ingestion.

But if you are interested in proving how much heat (I mean pain) you can tolerate, spread some of those Capsacin cremes that you can buy OTC on wet skin ...

johnny wrote:

JoelF wrote:I have had my limits exceeded on rare occasions (Sri Lankan in Minneapolis...

I know the place you speak of.
You are not kidding, my friend.

Golly...a proving grounds of sorts!

I still remember my dinner there, lo these many years.... And we ordered the "mild"!

RyanRedEye wrote:I am also going to speak to a couple different food or nutrition scientists and experts and going to talk about what spicy food does to you physically.

How graphic do you want to get?

jlawrence01 wrote:

Christopher Gordon wrote:It seems to me the people you describe might fit better into that trendy, ridiculous machismo-toxic category of "extremity" afficionados... those "men," generally playing "whose is biggest" vis a vis capsaicin ingestion.

But if you are interested in proving how much heat (I mean pain) you can tolerate, spread some of those Capsacin cremes that you can buy OTC on wet skin ...

I buy Chile Pepper magazine off the stand every once in awhile and in the last issue there was an advertisement for a capsaicin beauty cream.

But, really, I've made the idiot's mistake of using the bathroom post-pepper chopping/non-heavy-duty hand scrubbing...and...ouch

don't forget chirren: capsaicin and urethras shouldn't mix

Christopher Gordon wrote:It seems to me the people you describe might fit better into that trendy, ridiculous machismo-toxic category of "extremity" afficionados...those "men," generally playing "whose is biggest" vis a vis capsaicin ingestion.

I'm sure there's a certain amount of this, but there's also plenty who are pretty used to hot peppers keep on needing more and more capsaicin to even feel the heat, much less any sort of endorphin rush. I don't consider myself macho by any stretch of the imagination, but anything short of a habanero is not really that spicy to me. Plus I love the flavor of habaneros.

I agree that most of the extract-based sauces are silly--just heat for the sake of heat with little flavor (although I do like one of the Blair's chipotle blends). But a nice habanero sauce like El Yucateco XXX-Salsa Kutbil-ik (a step up in heat from the regular El Yucateco) gives me the flavor AND heat I really enjoy.

Christopher Gordon wrote:But, really, I've made the idiot's mistake of using the bathroom post-pepper chopping/non-heavy-duty hand scrubbing...and...ouch

Imagine doing the same thing and then taking your contacts out for the night.... (Yeah, I've done that not once, but twice.)

We had a friend who said he stopped doing drugs when he started doing peppers.

Ryan,
You can contact me as well. davecamaro1994@gmail.com
I love the heat. I also tend to sweat a rain forest. It is a built in heat cage. The hotter the food the more I sweat. You think I am kidding, but the right food will literally cause me to drench my shirt. Tastes good though.
I think the spice helps the body purge itself of impurities. I also would like to believe I am sweating off those calories I consume.
Dave

Binko wrote:Imagine doing the same thing and then taking your contacts out for the night.... (Yeah, I've done that not once, but twice.)

Been there.

Even better, how about the next morning when you put them back in and wham - spice eye, first thing in the AM. Real fun.

whiskeybent wrote:

Binko wrote:Imagine doing the same thing and then taking your contacts out for the night.... (Yeah, I've done that not once, but twice.)

Been there.

Even better, how about the next morning when you put them back in and wham - spice eye, first thing in the AM. Real fun.

Spice eye! Yes, I've done that. Twice.

Last Thanksgiving, while making a few moles, I had the foresight to wear latex gloves when cleaning peppers; needless to say, problem solved.

Binko wrote:

Christopher Gordon wrote:It seems to me the people you describe might fit better into that trendy, ridiculous machismo-toxic category of "extremity" afficionados...those "men," generally playing "whose is biggest" vis a vis capsaicin ingestion.

I'm sure there's a certain amount of this, but there's also plenty who are pretty used to hot peppers keep on needing more and more capsaicin to even feel the heat, much less any sort of endorphin rush. I don't consider myself macho by any stretch of the imagination, but anything short of a habanero is not really that spicy to me. Plus I love the flavor of habaneros.

I agree that most of the extract-based sauces are silly--just heat for the sake of heat with little flavor (although I do like one of the Blair's chipotle blends). But a nice habanero sauce like El Yucateco XXX-Salsa Kutbil-ik (a step up in heat from the regular El Yucateco) gives me the flavor AND heat I really enjoy.

I'm gonna write up an addition to my Beyond Chicagoland routine which includes recently buying some Kutbil-Ik(I've been wanting to try it forever). That's some good heat! I love the El Yucateco red and green(such that in times when I couldn't find it...friends would generally pick some up for me as a host gift...so much so that I ended up with a shelf full of the stuff)

The Kutbil-Ik blossoms with heat right up through the hard palate while retaining that lovely, tropical habanero burst.

Tasty.

David Hammond wrote:

whiskeybent wrote:

Binko wrote:Imagine doing the same thing and then taking your contacts out for the night.... (Yeah, I've done that not once, but twice.)

Been there.

Even better, how about the next morning when you put them back in and wham - spice eye, first thing in the AM. Real fun.

Spice eye! Yes, I've done that. Twice.

Last Thanksgiving, while making a few moles, I had the foresight to wear latex gloves when cleaning peppers; needless to say, problem solved.

Wow, glad to know I'm not the only one to have experienced this particular joy.

David Hammond wrote:Spice eye! Yes, I've done that. Twice.

Last Thanksgiving, while making a few moles, I had the foresight to wear latex gloves when cleaning peppers; needless to say, problem solved.

The second time I did it to myself was not entirely because I was an idiot--it's because no matter how well you scrub your hands afters handling Thai chiles with your fingers, there's still some residual oil buried somewhere in your skin.

While gloves is the smart solution, mine was just to stop wearing contacts all together.

Jean Smith in her book recommends using bleach to wash your hands afterwards, claims that it's the only thing that will degrade the chili oil. I've tried it, and it certainly works better than any soap or detergent I've ever used.

I wonder why it is that one's eyes always need a rub right after working with chili? I wonder why it is, given this, that I always forget, and, in fact, rub the eyes? You'd think Pavlov would be right in this situation, but nooooooo.

Every year I grow a bunch of different chilis, dry them, and then put them through the ol' Vita-Mix to produce Geo's Special Blend. It goes on/with EVERYthing, of course.

But I've gotten so sensitized to the pepper dust over the years that I now need to wear a mask when I'm making GSB—otherwise I just end up coughing, gasping and weeping so hard that I can't finish this important task.

Ah, what we won't endure for our chilis...

Geo

RyanRedEye -- If you have not seen this video, yet, you might find it an amusing sidebar to your article:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvK2Y1hv ... re=related

"be nice"

I know...I know...

but, this whole hot sauce trend irritates me no end. I'm a spicy foods afficianado...find myself dumbing down my cuisine when I cook for others...find myself irritated that others can't take a smidgen of the heat that I enjoy...

however...this juvenile hot sauce oneupsmanship and it's concomitant culture has absolutely nothing to do with food...it's become cliche' among middle management types to boast how much they can "take"

Office Space Part Deux, anyone?




is phaal available in Chicago?

I think you are being very judgemental and those kind of 'superiority' attitudes annoy me.

I've been a lifelong foodie and, as a kid, used to give instructions by referencing the food places that were at the intersections you had to turn at. I planned my prom date around dinner at Ambria, in the 80s when it was actually good.

And I love hot food. I used to search out the hottest of everything I could find, buy a variety of hot sauces on my annual trips to New Orleans and have gone out of my way to visit a place just because of hot food.

One time I dropped by a BBQ place in Des Moines just because of their legendary hot bbq sauces. It was a Sunday so the place was closed, but the owner saw us peering into it when he was driving by from church and on his was to lunch. He opened it up long enough to let us taste all of them, I was with my girlfriend and brother, both of whom could tolerate a lot hotter food than I could. I bought a collection and he was impressed enough that my responses to his sauces were, mmm that's good and not as hot as I expected, that he gave me a small bottle of sauce he had made that the local health department asked him not to sell. You had to sign waivers for any of the sandwiches made with his lesser sauces and using toothpicks to measure the sauce was the recommended way. This was before the whole 'hot food' trend too.

Habeneros? How many do you want to eat with me used to be my response.

Sometimes the search for increasingly hot food is the result of capsaicin addiction and people who like hot food find themselves going up the ladder because what used to be hot to them is no longer.

My point is that it is possible to be a serious foodie and be a hot food junkie. And in some cultures, extremely hot is the norm. Just because more and more people like it doesn't mean you should insult people who do like hot food.

I would love to try a Bhut Jolokia or a Red Savina chili, but I'm afraid my days of enjoying extremely hot food have passed because of unrelated surgeries that make my system a lot more sensitive to hot food than it used to be.

What annoys me? Intolerant people. especially those that insult others because of their own sense of superiority.

jsco wrote:What annoys me? Intolerant people. especially those that insult others because of their own sense of superiority.

jsco... If you reread that post, I think you'll discover that he isn't criticizing people who love hot food (in fact, he clearly places himself among them), nor people who, as you say, climb the ladder because their tolerance increases, but rather the "chest-beating hot food as a litmus test for machismo" crowd.

Do you not also find that irritating?