The Thai threshold for spicy is much higher than most countries, and what foreigners consider extremely spicy is usually just another flavor for the locals. Spices in Thailand range from curry, hot pepper, and ginger.
A recent “Flavor Trend Category Report” by Technomic concludes that Asian people have the highest tolerance for spicy foods, while Caucasians have the least. While it's easy to joke about various cultures' spice tolerances (or lack thereof!), it's difficult to have a truly universal understanding of spice tolerance.
Thailand
Thailand is undoubtedly synonymous with spicy food and is considered one of the most popular tourist destinations. You can find many fried foods and spicy soups in its street food. They usually cook with spices and aromatic herbs and spices that give a magical touch to the food.
India is the world's largest producer of spices. The availablity of abundant natural resources and favourable climate makes it favourable for the growth of spices in India. Q. Which one of the following is the leading producer of spices?
Why? A look into the anything-but-bland origins—and the fiery future—of a famously bland cuisine.
One of the main reasons that Japanese food is not typically spicy is due to the country's culinary history. As an island nation with a long history of relying on seafood. The Japanese traditionally focused on bringing out the natural flavors of their fresh ingredients rather than adding a lot of spices.
The cultures of the far north (Inuit/Aleut or less politically correct Eskimo) don't historically have spicy food, they relied on fermented and rotted meat and fish to supply flavors that could be loosely termed a spice substitute.
India contributes to 75% of global spice production. This is reflected culturally through their cuisine; historically, the spice trade developed throughout the Indian subcontinent as well as in East Asia and the Middle East.
Indian food is very spice forward, and often uses chilis as well. They tend to use fresh ingredients blended with many different spices mixed together, and cooked to get rid of the raw spice flavor. Korean food, on the other hand, is usually is spicy due to their use of chilis, and less of spice.
Indian good seems to have a longer, slower burn, rather than a "sharper" spiciness of Thai.
There is no scientific evidence to suggest that Asian people have a genetic adaptation that allows them to eat super spicy food. However, it is true that many Asian cuisines use a lot of spices and chili peppers in their cooking, and people who grow up eating these foods may become accustomed to the heat over time.
For the most sublime curries in the world, India is at the top of the list to visit. Therefore, if you're travelling to India expect to eat amazing authentic curries day and night in different parts of the region.
But there's a twist: in the actual taste test, the female participants were more likely to report actually enjoying the super-hot taste of the capsaicin, whereas the men enjoyed it less. The men were claiming to love spicy foods, without actually liking the taste as much as the women.
The study found that there was a common genetic factor that regulated responses to spicy foods. The results revealed that genetic factors accounted for 18% to 58% of the variation in the enjoyment of spicy food, which allowed the researchers to conclude that spice tolerance does have ties to genetics.
Genetically, some people are born with fewer receptors for capsaicin, which is the compound that makes hot foods taste and feel hot. These individuals are less able to taste capsaicin-derived spiciness, which gives them an above average built-in tolerance for heat.
Thailand. Well, if you have ever been to Thailand or tried out their famous curries, green and red, you would know why they are known for their flavourful, spicy and aromatic food. Most of the food that you can find here are in the form of spicy soups and fried foods.
It can be said that Indian and Pakistani food share many similarities, but there are also some key differences. Both cuisines make use of spices and herbs to create flavorful dishes, but Indian food tends to be spicier. In addition, Pakistani food often includes meat, while vegetarianism is more common in India.
Korean food uses lots of spices and sauces; they play a prominent part in the flavour of each dish. Many Korean dishes use chilli pepper to season, but Japanese food rarely does. Japanese food in general is much less spicy than Korean food.
Cardamom or Elettaria Cardamomum Maton is one of the most highly prized and exotic spices and rightly deserves the name “queen of spices”. It is also commonly referred to as the “green cardamom” or the “true cardamom”, and belongs to the family of ginger.
Cardamom, also known as the "queen of spices," is the third most costly spice in the world in terms of price per unit weight, only being surpassed by vanilla and saffron. Just a small touch of cardamom will lend its unique flavor to any dish.
Cinnamon is an ancient spice that predates the recorded history of culinary applications of all spices. As such, it has been dubbed the “world's oldest spice”, which may be a warranted title, knowing that because it was found to be included in Egyptian embalming recipes.
It also included less well-known herbs, like ramsons, nettles, angelica, mugwort, and woodruff. Vikings didn't have hot spices, but they did have access to horseradish and may have used it. Onions, leeks, and garlic created some strong flavor profiles.
Spicy food has been a South American tradition for at least 6,000 years. Of course, millennia ago the continent was not known by that name and it would not be until after the arrival of Columbus that the Old World would fall for the delightful culinary effects of chilis—the hottest peppers they had ever tasted.