[CH] Re: A new experience

raelsixty4@earthlink.net
Fri, 20 Jul 2001 08:26:37 -0600

>>From: Uncle_Dirty_Dave <xrated@ameritech.net>
>
>>-- and a smirking chef peeking from the kitchen.
>
>
>Yes, the familiar smirking chef, I've seen a few of them, too.  I 
>like to bring in my own heat and dumbfound the wait staff.  Their 
>reactions vary from "You brought your own?  How neat!" to a kind of 
>disgust like I'm bringing used motor oil to their table.  It doesn't 
>help when the people with me say "Oh, he puts pepper on everything" 
>in the same tone of voice they'd use for "He still makes mud pies, 
>too."
>
>Once in a while you meet up with people who assume that putting heat 
>into food ruins the food.  If it's a sarcastic chef who was told to 
>make your dish hotter, it gets pepper dumped on it like it's animal 
>food.  I made the mistake once of giving the waitress a film 
>cannister of hab powder and asking to have the chef put "some" of it 
>on my fish.  (Jeff S. was with me on that trip.)  The cannister came 
>back half-empty and the fish was red.  Thanks.
>
>Sometimes I stump the house when I ask for heat; they actually have 
>no sauce, no powder, maybe just black pepper or the little 
>pizza-shop packets of red flakes if I'm lucky.

if you think about it, the use of "heat" as we all know and love is 
indeed <1> intensely personal, thus varying in degree of intensity, 
and <2> indeed *is* a skill/level of understanding almost in a 
zen-like way that we all have developed through time and experience. 
So, not to particularly defend ignorant cooks/chefs, remember that by 
asking a cook to "make it spicy" you may in fact be asking someone 
who (gasp) never eats anything spicier than Tabasco which would be 
his/her level of "understanding" heat; and said cook may furthermore 
think anything hotter than his/her level of understanding is insane 
which is merely a fear-like reaction of not knowing beyond his/her 
heat level, i.e. they ask themselves "how much is hot for this 
person?"  Often the "answer" to their dilemma is to simply say "well, 
they asked for it" and just load the item up with pepper, cayenne, or 
(gag) Tabasco.

So, it's really a case of people/cooks who do not understand how 
"heat" is indeed an ingredient as well as a culinary technique and 
not something one simply "does" to food.  Some folks would utter a 
"whaaa??" at that statement, but i'm relatively certain the majority 
of us Enlightened Chileheads understand this very well, and those who 
are uncertain still are well on their way to this Enlightenment. 
It's akin to me to herb usage; it takes much practice to understand 
an herb like parsley, for example.  Having been degraded to a mere 
common garnish, parsley can actually make or break a dish; it can add 
to flavor by marrying with other herbs and flavors; it can add merely 
color (which is a strong element of any dish - we all know this); and 
so on.  Heat can be subtle or 
smack-you-in-da-face-i-see-jesus-comin-to-take-me-away, and all 
levels in between.  It takes time, thus experience to Know Thy Chile. 
Consequently, we must educate chefs/cooks, and seek out (then 
patronize heavily) those who indeed seem to be Englightened.

Well, enough chile philosophy (or ramblin' bullshit...yer pick) for 
the morning.  I need some coffee.  ATT man is coming to hook me up 
w/a cable modem.

Gonna be playin' w/fire now, baby!


Peace, Hendrix, and CHiles.......
Rael64