• It’s so common people don’t even see it. But it’s the same thing as Mexican food. The perception is it is spicy and will give you diarrhea.

    I firmly believe this is because American people in general don’t understand what spices are. Spiced does not mean spicy hot. Spiced is flavourful and they just can’t have that. I have dined with Americans that truly believe black pepper is too spicy. We had a Starbucks chai which is absolutely terrible, and they’ve said “it’s too spicy”… What? Their brains equate flavour to spicy heat to bad.

    It’s stupidly infuriating.

    • phillaholic
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      22 years ago

      Spiced does not mean spicy hot.

      Yea but like… it’s way hotter than most other American food by default.

      • @TechNerdWizard42@lemmy.world
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        -42 years ago

        No it isn’t… It has more spices. It does not have more capsaicin. Indian food by default is NOT spicy hot. It is spiced. You can get it spicy hot but that’s not default.

        It’s like saying fried chicken is spicy because you can order it with a hot sauce coating. In reality just that style of preparation is spicy.

        • phillaholic
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          22 years ago

          You can argue semantics until you go blue in the face. If you’re not used to spicy food or hot food, or food that produces a similar feeling in the mouth, you have to be careful with Indian food. Your tolerance level isn’t everyone else’s.

          • @TechNerdWizard42@lemmy.world
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            -22 years ago

            Spices are not heat. End of story. If you don’t understand this, you are obviously a pasty white American and the exact point being made.

            • phillaholic
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              22 years ago

              What’s the point in being so pedantic? Calling it the correct thing isn’t going to make it palatable.

    • Digital Mark
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      -22 years ago

      Leave the Midwest. Coasts and Southwest, we eat spicy foods, tho also most of them are very hot.