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Nov 16 2003
What America Eats
Forget the “Land of the Bland”! One of the “hottest” food trends in the U.S. is cuisine that can set tongues of fire, such as Mexican, Cajun, Thai and Caribbean. According to the American Spice Trade Association, consumptions of red pepper and mustard seed has increased 70% since the late ‘70s. And markets are ablaze with sauces sporting names such as “Mo’ Hota,” Vampfire” and “Powderkeg.”
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“Ever since salsa replaced ketchup as our favorite condiment in 1992, the American palate has gone from hot to hotter,” says Dr. John La Puma, a chef and medical director of the Santa Barbara Institute of Medical Nutrition and Healthy Weight. He credits the influences of travel, television and a booming Hispanic population with fueling the fire.
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Hot dishes aren’t necessarily spicy—or vice versa. “Hot” and ‘spicy’ are different sensations,” explains Leslie Norris, a flavor sensory technologist at the American Culinary Institute (ACI). “Hot is a physical reaction in the mouth that causes a burning feeling. Spicy is sensed in the nose.” The heat in hot dishes can come from wasabi root, fresh ginger, horse-radish, mustard seed or ground pepper, but the most ubiquitous fuel is the chili pepper, used in Asian, Mexican and Caribbean cuisines.
The culprit is capsaicin, an ingredient in chili peppers that stimulates the sensors in the mouth and creates a burning sensation. The 80-plus varieties range in firepower according to the Scoville scale, the standard test for measuring the heat of chilies. The scale goes from zero for bell peppers to 2500 to 10,000 for jalapenos and chipotles (a.k.a. dried and smoked jalapenos) to a blistering 100,000 to 350,000 for habanero and Scotch bonnet peppers (added by the drop to sauces).
“Hot foods are an acquired taste, but they’re fun to eat and often nutritious,” say Dr. La Puma. Cuisine with a kick provides other benefits too.
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The “burn” created by capsaicin activates pain receptors in the mouth, which causes the brain to release endorphins — “feel good” chemicals that may product a brief high. Capsaicin also can turn on appetite-suppressing brain cells. So someone eating, say, Jamaican jerk chicken consumes about 200 few calories than someone opting for a milder meal. Hot dishes may even boost adrenaline to temporarily speed up metabolism and stimulate the breakdown of fats. And, lie it or not, capsaicin helps us sweat by activating the body’s natural cooling systems.
“Hot foods trigger both pain and pleasure,” says Patrick Finney, national culinary director of the ACI. “People may be crying and sweating and saying their mouths are on fire — but they can’t stop eating.”
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