lansbury

I find in the US if you ask for well done it is about the equivalent of medium in the UK.

mrken30

Similar to asking for spicy, spicy in the US is equivalent to mild in the UK generally speaking. However there is no hard and fast rule. In UK Korma is mild everywhere you go and Vindaloo is extra spicy everywhere.

johnwoo

I never got why very spicy food is considered to be good by some? I like to enjoy my food not suffer pain from it. Is it some kind of macho thing?

Pulaski

It is not uncommon for my "rare" steaks to be medium-rare or even medium. On one memorable occasion the steak I ordered "rare" arrived as a very solid "well-done", .... with a little plastic flag stuck in it saying "Rare".

Leslie

I don't think everybody has the same reaction. I've tasted food that made other people choke and cry and it just didn't effect me like that.

Pulaski

Agreed. Mrs P says curries are too hot and won't eat them, but we had an appetizer of cured meats at a farm to table restaurant in DC a few years ago and one of the meats was a chilli-cured ham - Mrs P loved it, but for me it was pure heat that just numbed my taste buds it was so hot!

Leslie

I can eat curries, hot peppers, chilies and jalapenos with no problem. Love them and ask for extra. I have to be very careful with wasabi and horseradish though.

BEVS

YYuuuukkk !

johnwoo

I certainly don't react well to very hot spicy food.

"There are two factors at play in the level of spice perceived in any given food: the amount of capsaicin in the peppers, and the sensitivity of your mouth's receptors to that capsaicin."

"Capsaicin; 8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide) is an active component of chili peppers, which are plants belonging to the genus Capsicum. It is an irritant for mammals, including humans, and produces a sensation of burning in any tissue with which it comes into contact. Capsaicin and several related compounds are called capsaicinoids and are produced as secondary metabolites by chili peppers, probably as deterrents against certain mammals and fungi] Pure capsaicin is a volatile, hydrophobic, colorless, odorless, crystalline to waxy compound."

An element designed as a deterrent can't be good.

The sensitivity of my mouth must be very high, because I don't enjoy it at all.

SultanOfSwing

Wasabi and horseradish are a different kind of hot. Like proper English mustard - remove the skin off the inside of your nose hot. Now, I can handle all of them but I much prefer the kind of heat that comes from hot peppers, chilies, etc.

livinginnyc

Never tried it. Strawberry cheesecake however

I love a spicy food and have gone all the way to trying ghost chilies (I've only had it twice though - once through peanuts and once in an actual curry).

Wasabi is yummy with sushi too

SultanOfSwing

M&S blackcurrant cheesecake is the shit. I'm going to personally eat at least three of them when we go over to the UK next year.

lansbury

As I thought. How can I trust the word of anyone who doesn't like pumpkin cheesecake that raw steak tastes good.

SultanOfSwing

I never mentioned pumpkin cheesecake, I've never had it.

livinginnyc

I like pumpkin spice coffee, that has to count for something?

And RARE (not raw ) steak is the stuff of legends (add black peppercorn sauce, mashed potatoes and asparagus to your satisfaction too).