At a Indian restaurant, the waiter said, “We have regular and spicy… And Indian spicy.” Then he goes, “I usually don’t offer Indian spicy to everybody”. I’m brown, and I was given special treatment. But honestly I think I broke his heart when I asked for regular because he thought I could hang.
Sorry man! 😭
One of my proudest moments as a white dude who likes spicy stuff was when a buddy and I were hanging out with some local guys while on a trip to Mexico. I was just chowing down on some super hot salsa and one of the Mexican guys gets real excited and starts calling me “the blond Mexican”. I’m sure my wife is tired of that story, but I will continue to tell it to her for the rest of my days.
Achievement unlocked!
Woah. If there’s one thing that excites me more than foreigners speaking Spanish, it’s people eating our food how it should be eaten. Well done! I hope you enjoyed yourself.
So I have a question about this.
When I was in high school I worked with a woman from Mexico (many immigrants actually, it was an ag job), like her English wasn’t that great because she recently moved to that area sort of thing.
She was nice, maybe late 20s, and had a couple kids. She brought lunch for me a few times that she made, and I was blown away by how bland it was, since I’d been under the impression that Mexican food was typically spicier (kinda like most Indian food I’ve has is strongly flavored) so I asked about it.
She said that in Mexico they don’t actually make everything super hot, because kids need to eat and don’t like spice, so most spice is added by the eater at the table or whatever.
Is that true, or was she being nice about my possibly offensive confusion?
The food culture of Mexico is amazing, and if you’re eating at the right places there is usually no option but to speak Spanish! I’ve had to request “más picante” before, though generally that is at restaurants used to serving gringos. At tianguis or taco guys on the street there’s usually no problem getting the spice.
Güero! Estas invitado a la carne asada!
Well done, dude. It is a fine and honorable story to tell, and let no one tell you otherwise!
I’m white and they said that to me once, but there was such an underlying tone of menace in “Indian hot” that I knew they weren’t fucking around.
That is such a perfect way to describe how “Indian hot” is offered! No malice, of course, just an honest warning!
Why don’t you make hot a little hotter, make that the top number and make that a little hotter?
Most places only have 10 hot, but if you’re chowing on 10 and want to go hotter, where can you go from there? That’s why ours goes to 11
Sometimes when my boyfriend and I want a spicy cuisine, I’ll do the online ordering because I’m the one with the non-white name. He’s convinced they tone down the spice levels when they see his name on the order.😂
The Indian place I often go to will only actually give me the spice level I’m asking for (1-10 scale) if I call to order it. If I go in and ask for it spicy, it’s always suuuuper mild. Very very annoying, because damnit that’s not what I ordered, and I know what I’m doing. I’ve even specifically asked for it to be done the way they’d eat it and nope.
My partner makes ghost pepper and reaper sauces. They just made ghost jerky. I like reaper cheese. I can handle it, but no. They won’t give it to me unless they don’t know it’s for me :(
I’m white, my wife is Desi. She can’t handle spicy food, and I thrive on it. We order each other’s dishes.
I’m white British and went through this at a New Zealand Indian restaurant. After all the warnings, Indian spicy was barely even mid-level spicy. I’m from Bradford and don’t need mollycoddling.
In my experience Indians and British Asians are not even that into spice heat as a whole.
A kebab place in town used to have their spicyness range from “Norwegian mild” to “immigrant spicy”.
I once went from my regular order of “Norwegian spicy” up to “immigrant mild”. Bad move for me, delicious kebab though.
I’m VERY white, and so is my tolerance of spicyness. I always have to ask if the food is actually spicy or Dutch-spicy, because if it’s the former, I’ll take the extra mild please.
We call that “Upper Midwest Spicy” in my house.
My wife is West Indian and trying to convince restaurants she wants actually spicy food is a constant struggle
I kinda wanna ask for Indian spicy next time I go to a restaurant
Ask if they could bring just a spoon full for you to test your might. I bet they’d have a laugh setting your intestines on fire.
One time I was at an event with Indian catering. I picked the dish I wanted, and the caterers warned me that it was spicy. I was halfway through it when the person I was having a chat with asked if the spicy dish was good. I was like “what? This is supposed to be spicy?” Then I paid attention and realised it was a bit spicy, I just forgot because it was less spice than I’m used to. It was delicious though and I used my naan to soak up all the sauce
I guess that was probably white spicy. I want to try Indian spicy now
I like that cultures that make spicy food, usually have a “mild” for their fellow countrymen, and a special “mild” for white people.
The white person mild.
I think that’s hilarious.
For the record, I’m white and I appreciate having white person mild as an option.
I get frustrated because I LOVE super-spicy food, but every time I go to a new Asian or Indian restaurant and ask for 5/5 spicy they’re like, “We’ll make you a 2/5” just to be safe because I’m very, very white.
I have literally never had food served to me at a restaurant that was too spicy for me. I’ve basically damaged my tongue with all the spicy food I eat, and I literally don’t perceive Sriracha as being any spicer than banana pudding.
I literally don’t perceive Sriracha as being any spicer than banana pudding.
Genuine question: Are there many people who really perceive Sriracha as spicy? I never thought that it’s meant to be really spicy, but more like a ‘chili-flavored’ sauce.
It’s ketchup with a chili flavor.
I thought the added garlic was its whole shtick.
I didn’t even notice that it had garlic flavor. I might be garlic resistant from eating so much of it.
There are people who find it so spicy it ruins their day if it gets on their tongue.
I mean, sure. There are a few sensitive people for everything. I once met someone who found even regular curry powder super spicy. I was just wondering about the statement above, because in my experience Sriracha is the absolute entry level when it comes to ‘hot’ sauces.
I’ve had that happen at a few places as well, it’s pretty annoying. I’m also really short, and so I’ve had one restaurant swap what I actually ordered to whatever the closest equivalent on their kids’ menu is lol
This is mild racism.
I worked at Denny’s and I always asked “Ranch?” when people got fries. One day an AlphaMacho™ man literally got up from his seat and loudly said “is that because I’m white?!” and I was stunned, then my manager - a Cowboys loving, Harley riding, neon-red redneck - popped up from around the corner and said “Hey calm down little man, everybody always gets ranch with their fries, boy’s just trying’ to save time”
Jokes aside it kinda is, but as a white guy who actually like hot food I’ve also been known to say “and don’t make it white guy spicy, be real”
I usually say that that in Indian restaurants because some of the ones near me will definitely hold back otherwise. One time the server asked me like 5 times if I was sure and there wouldn’t be a refund if I couldn’t handle it. I said bring it on and he watched me eat it from across the restaurant in amazement lol. It was the spiciest curry I’ve ever had, absolutely wrecked my stomach that night, 10/10.
I’ve heard that people with high tolerance for alcoholic beverages also have high tolerance for extreme spicy foods.
Apparently certain opiod receptors respond to both alcohol and spicy foods. There’s also an interesting relation between getting an endorphin rush from eating spicy foods and naltrexone — I guess people who really like spicy foods respond better to the drug.
So, I went into Chipotle the other day, and approached the young black dude who was taking the order, and asked for a bowl. Then he asked which rice, and said “Let me guess: White?”
I don’t know if he was being racist or what, but I’ve got a thick (white) skin, and can see the humor in anything, so I was laughing when I said “What the fuck is THAT supposed to mean?..but, yeah, I want white rice, but still, what the fuck, dude?”
He got really nervous at that point, thinking he offended me, and of course I took advantage and guilted him into extra steak and guac.
Years from now he will wake up while falling asleep, randomly remembering this awkward encounter
It’s taco bell, it’s all mild sauce
Their Diablo sauce is pretty good but still not that spicy
but there’s an onion in there sometimes!
Doesn’t feel mild coming out the other end.
Sounds like you might have gastrointestinal issues. Taco Bell hot sauce isn’t potent enough to give you the shits.
Could also be previously undiagnosed lactose intolerance, especially if you usually order it “supreme” (which adds sour cream).
If you drink enough most things will give you the shits. All that matters is I won the bet and didn’t have to pay for lunch.
That probably has nothing to do with the sauce
Everybody watch out, we got a badass over here.
They’re not wrong, though. Even their Diablo sauce is only rated to around ~15,000 SHU (though some will argue that Fire sauce is hotter and thus Diablo is actually less than 1000, myself included).
Even if the rating is accurate, that means at the very most Taco Bell sauce is barely hotter than a jalapeño, which any hot sauce enthusiast will confirm is on the lower end of the Scoville scale.
The point I’m making is that they’re not bragging, they’re stating simple facts.
I just believe words have meaning
If Taco Bell has sauces that are Hot, Fire, and Diablo then what are other actual hot sauces called?
It’s hyperbole, like someone saying their chicken wings were AMAZING.
If by some miracle Jesus came down from heaven and made sweet love to you all night what would you call it? They’ve already wasted AMAZING on a damn chicken wing.
credit to Louis CK for the Jesus bit
I think those names are pretty appropriate on the scale of Mild to Ass Reaper.
I’d call that shit biblical, messianic. Miraculous, even.
I probably wouldn’t enjoy it though because I don’t like men that way.
I have faith that Jesus would become a woman for me.
Unfortunately in religion, PR comes before everything. Or before most things. And Jesus’s clients know him as a man, so I don’t think he’s gonna budge on that
If Taco Bell has sauces that are Hot, Fire, and Diablo then what are other actual hot sauces called?
Hot sauce has a long history of hyperbole with marketing. I get that a lot of folks have a preference for high spice (I am one) and the pinch of cayenne that goes into a fancy fruit pie or taco bell sauce packet is going to be barely detectable, but I cook a lot for other folks and if someone says they don’t like any spice then diablo will ruin their night.
I’d call it what it is: rape.
Salt is often a bit too spicy for me
This is why we need better language describing spices in English. We have salty spices and spicy hot spices. Even if spicy hot spices there are three very different and distinct chemicals that make spicy hot spices.
That’s not even to begin to tackle the question of how to talk about the levels of the spice.
I use caliente, picante, and aromatic to describe the meanings of the English spicy. Salty is just salty, or maybe seasoned if I’m feeling fancy.
Wait what are the salty spices other than salt?
Think like an everything bagel. A lot of the stuff one foods like that may be considered spicy but not hot. Like if you just dumped Anton of seasoning on something you might say “it’s too spicy” but not mean hot.
A guy I work with once went with his two black friends to their local chip shop, owned by a big Jamaican guy.
He was the only white person in there, and when he placed his order, the owner went “Dja want gravy wit dat? White people always want graavyy”.
He did want gravy.
“How dare you! But yes.”
“I knew when you walked in you were gonna order the chicken”
“All these years I thought I liked chicken 'cause it was delicious! Turns out I was genetically predisposed to liking chicken.”
I’m white and I want gravy
Hell yeah, I want gravy.
In fairness, gravy is the tits
White. Brown. It’s all good. Can’t go wrong. Same goes for gravy.
My wife is white and every time she gets forks and spoons at a Asian restaurant, she’s absolutely delighted. She can use chopsticks, just not well.
Racial profiling in food is just an attempt to deliver the customer what they want. It would be the most benign form.
I’m oldish and pasty white, I have a hell of a time getting Mexican places to make it proper hot.
That said, I do love me potatoes and gravy…
I moved recently and tried a Thai place down the street. The guy asked if I wanted mild, medium, or spicy, and I said spicy. He said :No, I think mild." I didn’t know what to say and he added “…but you can have it however you want.” I decided to try medium.
He came by after and asked how the spiciness was, and I said it was just a little spicier than I like it (I ate it without issue), and he said “I told you!”
You just gotta know whose palate it’s balanced for. Taco bell is meant for white people. Their hottest sauce has a maybe jalapeño-level spice to it (and it tastes like shit). Go to any legit Thai or Indian place and their medium will destroy the hottest you can get at any tex-mex chain.
We really need a decent scale for spicyness of foods. The mild/medium/spicy thing is by far too unspecific.
There’s an Indian place down the road that we sometimes order from. I like moderate levels of spicy, so it works well for me. But my wife dislikes hot spicy foods at all. So when I ordered the food I asked if the dish is completely non-spicy, and they confirmed that it was completely non-spicy, and it was too spicy for my wife.
Seems like something where you could ask where eating a whole jalapeno falls on their spiciness scale, because that’s a very mild pepper and as someone who likes moderate spice and enjoys jalapeno based dishes, that seems like a very good anchor to start with
That’s not a bad idea, actually.
Maybe that could replace the scale actually. “This dish is equivalent to 5 pepper corns. This one here is equivalent to a jalapeno. This one is equivalent to a habanero.” and so on.
Is it racist to say Taco Bell is meant for white people?
No, it’s just a reflection of their target audience/corporate strategy.
Just a casual reminder that this guy is a Mexican, raised in Mexico City.
Looked it up (under “Early life” on Wikipedia). Born in Washington D.C. actually, but his father is of Mexican and Hungarian-Jewish descent and the family lived his first 7 years in Mexico.
Born in Washington D.C. actually
That’s actually the reason I couldn’t use the phrase “born & bred”, because it would’ve been inaccurate. However, it is accurate to say he’s Mexican (has dual US & Mexico citizenship) and grew up (spent most of his formative years) in Mexico City.
Edit whops I said “raised in” not “grew up in”.
The other day was my retirement party. We went to a local Chinese place, and while all the others were getting the touristy stuff, sweet sour and mu shu, I said “smoked bean pork.” The waiter looked at me like I was from Alpha Centauri, like “what’s an old white guy doing ordering the good stuff?”
Mexicans are usually surprised that I order the lengua tacos. I have to assure them that I know that means beef tongue.
I get a lot of ‘are you sure?’ When I ask for hot sauce
My old manager used to take his team out to a Szechuan Chinese place and order for us, family style. It was awesome.
I’m white AF and it was the first time I had actually spicy Chinese food. He’d also order a few mild dishes for the pair of no-spice folk on the team.
Thinking back, manager was a Chinese immigrant, most team mates were Indian immigrants, and the spice-free teammates were both white. (I mention immigrant because my Indian teammates with kids would complain about their American-born kids’ low spice tolerance.)
Lmao speaking of immigrants complaining of how their kids like to eat, I have a Russian coworker who complains about how her kids only want to eat unhealthy American food and not the food she cooks.
Maybe she’s just a shite cook
I was an extremely picky eater as a kid.
Bitching and screaming when told I had to eat my veggies, all that stuff.
Wasn’t until I moved out for college that I realized that a lot of that came from the fact that my moms cooking was shite.
My poor mother tried so hard, but yeah, combining foods into an interesting dish is not an easy thing. It didn’t help that she has never understood the joke about a wife replacing every ingredient in someone’s favorite dish and then complaining they didn’t enjoy it.
Now as a burgeoning cook, I, too, wish I could sometimes just have the skill to properly spice dishes and mix vegetables into actual flavor instead of another weird combo that is palatable but definitely not ‘good.’
I don’t think so. She’s brought some desserts in for potlucks before and they’ve been awesome.
I’m a white man, I enjoy very spicy food. My partner is a southeastern Asian woman, who enjoys a bit less spicy food. I find it easier if we just order for each other and swap plates when the food comes. Because the servers assume that I can’t handle spice, and my partner can. Which is incorrect. Also, my partner isn’t very happy about it.
It always made my smile that on every coffee shop they assumed my girlfriend was drinking latte and I read drinking black Turkish coffee, when it was the other way around.
It was a bit embarrassing at the beginning, but then I remembered I was a college student and she was in the army, so any attempt of being the strong one in the relationship was already out the window
Whenever my wife and I are at a restaurant and someone that is not our server brings the food to the table they always assume the vegetarian plate is hers and the one with meat on it is mine. They always seem confused when it is the other way around.
That podcast is hilarious for all the wrong reasons. They are not only race reductionists but they basically boil everything down to individual attitudes and beliefs.
One of the most egregious ones was when they told people not to practice speaking people’s native languages with them and to hire a tutor! Dumbest fucking people, they are equally as smart as MAGA.
When ordering at the local Indian restaurant (Indian? They’re all Bangladeshi. …Anyway~), it helps to say “Bangladeshi strength”, to prevent them serving the bland stuff.
I saw a post once along the lines of: Only certain groups of white people don’t do spicy, other groups eat hot sauces with names like The Asshole Scorcher. Personally, I love certain kinds of spicy. Like Korean food spicy is soooo fucking good. Eat a spicy noodle soup and be drenched in sweat at the end.
