Hi Sharen! Growing up in Minnesota anytime during the past 150 years doesn't count in terms of one's preference toward including chile in the diet. Us 'Mericans are such a delightful blend of food traditions (Thank you whoever controls these things that I was born here and now!) that it is hard to connect food with environment nowadays. My personal belief is that most folks like a varied diet and will embrace new foods and foodstuffs when introduced to them. Look how the Brits brought curries and chutneys back from "Injah" and made them standard table fare alongside of bubble and squeak. I am an avid fan of "Two Fat Ladies" (anyone else? ) and am frequently surprized and delighted by the quantities of hot peppers they include into otherwise standard English fare. (I am also impressed by the quantity of bacon they use in damn near everything except desserts! Those women should be cannonized!) Soo conversations on the causality of the characteristics of specific cuisines cannot, I think, include the ethnographic present!?! Peace, love and peppers Lorraien