The worst I've tried: A small taste of a regular orange habanero pepper straight from the grocery store. I don't recommend ever doing that; it wasn't even so much like a spicy taste, as it was like putting something sharp in my mouth. Blech. And now some of you know why that's an item that does what it does in LaZPoC. Actually, in hindsight, maybe it should've shot swordbeams, too?
However, habanero-jack cheese is pretty good if you're braced for it's spiciness, and in the right mood.
I've had sliced jalapenos, and I think I can handle them on their own, but they're better with stuff. They're good on sandwiches sometimes, and on pizza for those rare occasions when you've eaten pizza so often that you want to mix it up a little (sadly I haven't had the budget for that for a long time); although, for non-spicy nonconventional pizza toppings, I much prefer anchovies, which are pretty much just really salty fish.
I've had tobasco sauce? It's pretty mild and rarely all that great. Similar deal for those "hot" packets from Taco Bell, though I've yet to try their 'Diablo' ones. And picante salsa of various kinds, ranging from "this tastes like flavored water" (served at most Mexican food restaurants in the United States) to "hmm, this kind of builds on you, I should be careful" (Pace "Hot" Salsa, as opposed to their "Medium" and "Mild" varieties; that stuff is kinda good but I don't like the chunks, so I wind up wanting to eat the liquid and leave the pieces of stuff. That's more to do with my dislike of onion chunks than with spiciness, though. The little yellow jalapeno seeds floating in it are just fine with me).
There's this one kind of canned chili (that is, the thick brown stuff associated with hot dogs; in varieties with and without beans, the latter usually adding little beef chunks), "Wolf" brand (I've only ever found it at Wal Mart though), that is fairly hot. I liked it as a teenager, but here in my late 20s I find it overwhelming and wind up only eating it if I thin it way out across some refried beans. Like, 1/3 of a can of the chili to 1 can of refried beans; that's pretty good. However, most brands of chili are much more mild, sometimes even very dull; it varies a lot. I remember Hyvee had a spicy variant on their storebrand chili that was somewhat intense, but I haven't had that stuff in like 13 years.
Also, I'm confused about why anyone thinks chili powder is particularly hot. That stuff is more bitter than hot, and it takes forever to build up into genuine spiciness... extremely tame.
My basic thoughts on spicy stuff are:
- It's best to try it when you're overall well fed (that is, if you haven't been under-eating) and if you don't already have an upset stomach.
- Have milk ready, if you can drink milk, because it fixes almost everything about spicy stuff to some extent. If you can't do milk, consider a sugary drink like soda even though it will be nasty and bitter when it goes to cancel out the spiciness. If all else fails, drink water, which you should probably be doing some of anyway.
- Likewise, cheese always helps cancel this stuff out. I find mozarella is particularly absorbant and mild-ing, although the classic thing is Montery Jack. Cheddar kind of works but doesn't cancel out as much, plus it can be greasy when heated, and lots of spicy stuff is already greasy, so I'd say only add cheddar to stuff like chili if you don't mind grease.
- It's fun to try a wide variety, but I tend to find jalapenos are a nice comfort ceiling; spicy enough to be interesting and taste good, but mild enough to not hurt or be overwhelming. Then again, I grew up in Texas (blech!), so YMMV.
- I've seen people get hiccups from it (like in Azumanga Daioh) but I've never experienced this myself? Not sure how it works.
Edited by Mitsukara, 24 March 2017 - 05:59 AM.