Post-surgery, I lost almost all my tolerance for, and enjoyment of, hot peppers (capsaicin). Fortunately, I am still on very good terms with black pepper, garlic, ginger, mustard, and horseradish. I've come up with a quasi-curry that is based on Penzey's Singapore seasoning blend (lots of black pepper), garam masala, ginger, and cumin. Smoked paprika also works for me sometimes, though hot paprika no longer does.
So, I have to be careful in restaurants—dishes labeled as "ginger" or "garlic" chicken are often hot peppers+ginger or garlic, and even if there was a universal calibration for what "hot" means, my own tolerance varies from day to day. (If cattitude or adrian_turtle is cooking for me, they ask me to test that day's smoked paprika tolerance before adding any.)
(I'm not sure whether my lost spice tolerance is a side effect of the anesthesia, or of not having a gall bladder. I do know that the problem is that hot pepper now hurts my tongue, rather than digestive issues. (Some years back, post-surgery, I ate something with significant amounts of capsaicin and of oil. The oil reduced the effect in my mouth, and I was fine the next day or so as it went through my digestive tract.
(A lot of people who have had their gall bladders removed have trouble with fatty foods; I'm still fine with almost all of those.)
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Post-surgery, I lost almost all my tolerance for, and enjoyment of, hot peppers (capsaicin). Fortunately, I am still on very good terms with black pepper, garlic, ginger, mustard, and horseradish. I've come up with a quasi-curry that is based on Penzey's Singapore seasoning blend (lots of black pepper), garam masala, ginger, and cumin. Smoked paprika also works for me sometimes, though hot paprika no longer does.
So, I have to be careful in restaurants—dishes labeled as "ginger" or "garlic" chicken are often hot peppers+ginger or garlic, and even if there was a universal calibration for what "hot" means, my own tolerance varies from day to day. (If
(I'm not sure whether my lost spice tolerance is a side effect of the anesthesia, or of not having a gall bladder. I do know that the problem is that hot pepper now hurts my tongue, rather than digestive issues. (Some years back, post-surgery, I ate something with significant amounts of capsaicin and of oil. The oil reduced the effect in my mouth, and I was fine the next day or so as it went through my digestive tract.
(A lot of people who have had their gall bladders removed have trouble with fatty foods; I'm still fine with almost all of those.)