Among my most foolish moments involving spicy foods: biting into a raw jalapeno pepper after the first few bits I'd diced didn't seem spicy, which required two yogurts and a lot of pacing to control; neglecting to ask the kitchen at Zoe's to temper the spiciness of their beef-with-chilis dish, which required about three quickly downed bottles of beer and a lot of pacing to control. My body was so contorted after that dinner I had to skip the Wrens concert I was planning to see later that night.
Thankfully, the Times came to the rescue last week, with a story explaining my lust for spicy foods. A psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania theorizes that the medical benefits of eating chili peppers -- lower blood pressure, better salivation -- are too small to explain their appeal. Instead, the attraction is a "benign masochism," in which we take pleasure from testing our taste buds' tolerance for pain. Another psychologist, from Yale, told the Times, "Philosophers have often looked defining features of humans -- language, rationality, culture and so on. I'd stick with this: Man is the only animal that likes Tabasco sauce."
Though the researchers acknowledge they don't have enough scientific evidence to back this up, add me to the database of anecdotal proof. There's something fun about the challenge of tolerating spicy food. While no daredevil, I like the extra level of flavor and sense of adventure it adds. Perhaps it adds a little sense of danger to the day. (Though a friend recently checked in with an e-mail to say he's now rock climbing, skydiving and hoping to travel to Pakistan this school year as part of his work at graduate school. He trumps me in the danger category.) I no longer have to be embarrassed by my ill-advised requests for spicy food. It's a sign of my evolution!
Update: In the more awesome category of my adventures in spicy foods, I pickled a hot pepper last week. I think I should've let it sit for longer, but it still tasted very good.
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