# Cajun too hot (peppery) to eat; how to mellow it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 18, 2011, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-too-hot-peppery-to-eat-how-to-mellow-it/589435 "2011-07-18T12:51:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![OtisCampbellWasRight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d78d45/32.png) [@OtisCampbellWasRight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtisCampbellWasRight)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-too-hot-peppery-to-eat-how-to-mellow-it/589435/21 "2011-07-18T19:40:09Z")
One thing you can try, that will definitely change the flavor, but it may be worth a try: add a little sugar to “fool” your tongue. Also, take the shrimp out and rinse them with water. This will do two things: you will loose some of the heat and you don’t want to overcook them when you reheat. Throw them back in just before serving. I don’t know if anyone else has suggested it yet, but regarding the addition of the diary, feel free to add some unsalted butter. This will tone down the heat and change the flavor in a very positive way. On a related note; if something is too salty for you, throw in a peeled and large-chunked (so you can retrieve the pieces from the finished product - unless you WANT to leave it in; which may work.) ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-too-hot-peppery-to-eat-how-to-mellow-it/589435/22 "2011-07-18T19:42:29Z")
> [@OtisCampbellWasRight](#): > > On a related note; if something is too salty for you, throw in a peeled and large-chunked (so you can retrieve the pieces from the finished product - unless you WANT to leave it in; which may work.) A peeled and large-chunked _what_? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-too-hot-peppery-to-eat-how-to-mellow-it/589435/23 "2011-07-18T19:44:16Z")
> [@OtisCampbellWasRight](#): > > On a related note; if something is too salty for you, throw in a peeled and large-chunked (so you can retrieve the pieces from the finished product - unless you WANT to leave it in; which may work.) I assume the word “potato” is missing there? If so, that’s a [cooking myth.](http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f17/potatoes-will-not-make-a-soup-taste-less-salty-25085.html) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-too-hot-peppery-to-eat-how-to-mellow-it/589435/24 "2011-07-18T19:53:07Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Or, as mentioned, mix it with sour cream, or, as my mom does, use ranch dressing. And, yeah, dilute with other stuff. > > If it’s not breaded, you can also try soaking it in water, which will dilute it more. At least, it works with over seasoned meat. (It’s part of the reason I’m not a big fan of the crock pot.) Heck, since it’s soluable in caesin, try soaking it in milk, maybe? If etouffee is breaded. you should seriously toss that cookbook in the trash. When I lived in Lafayette, before Cajun food became popular and was thus still real, I also don’t remember any jalapenos in it, or any milk based dishes. Sour cream or milk mixed with etouffee is not going to be terribly appetizing. I grew jalapenos when I was down there, very successfully, but not for Cajun food. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-too-hot-peppery-to-eat-how-to-mellow-it/589435/25 "2011-07-18T20:09:43Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > A peeled and large-chunked _what_? Depends on what [taste](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=616774) you’re going for. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-too-hot-peppery-to-eat-how-to-mellow-it/589435/26 "2011-07-18T20:58:36Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Hey, I was just following orders. We followed the recipe pretty much [as it was written](http://www.amazon.com/Real-Cajun-Rustic-Cooking-Louisiana/dp/0307395812/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311012657&sr=8-1) (though we substited shrimp for crawfish). I’m not a Cajun, so you’ll have to cut me some slack if I don’t know what’s supposed to go in “real” Cajun food. > . The dud runs restaurants in NoLa … he follows the fads. It is currently faddish to pepper the bleeding fuck out of foods that are supposed to be _mildly_ hot. Start with the holy trinity, bell pepper, celery and onion in fine dice called a mirepoix. Tweaking hot tends to be done with hot sauce much of the time, various levels of the hots of paprica [sweet, half sharp and sharp], tiny amounts of ground cayenne and _judicious_ use of something like a cubanelle to adjust the pepper spectrum of flavors. If there are chunks of something, it will be a bell pepper. And to fix it, make an entire batch of sauce without any pepper of any sort at all, and mix the 2 together, serve over white [though I really love brown] rice and have beer and milk to drink as both serve to cut the heat. Freeze in single or 2 serving amounts or have a party and get rid of it all at once. Honestly? If something I try comes out inedible it gets tossed or goes to the dog and chickens. Life is too short to eat inedible foods. I will eat dressed rice or noodles for a few days if I am short of money rather than try to eat something that inedible. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-too-hot-peppery-to-eat-how-to-mellow-it/589435/27 "2011-07-18T21:38:17Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > The dud runs restaurants in NoLa … Is he a controversial character? Everything I could find about him, his food, and his cookbook has been uniformly positive, even from local sources. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-too-hot-peppery-to-eat-how-to-mellow-it/589435/28 "2011-07-18T21:54:42Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Start with the holy trinity, bell pepper, celery and onion in fine dice called a mirepoix. Mirepoix IME is usually with carrot not bell pepper. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-too-hot-peppery-to-eat-how-to-mellow-it/589435/29 "2011-07-18T22:18:39Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Start with the holy trinity, bell pepper, celery and onion in fine dice called a mirepoix. Yes, and no. Bell pepper, celery, and onion is called [trinity or holy trinity](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_trinity_%28cuisine%29). The term _mirepoix_ is usually, as pointed out, reserved for the French-cuisine combination with carrots. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-too-hot-peppery-to-eat-how-to-mellow-it/589435/30 "2011-07-18T23:17:43Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > To amend my earlier post: > > Actually, my sources inform me that the casein in milk will also reduce the heat from the piperine, in addition to the heat from the capsaicin. Those two heat molecules are somewhat structurally similar, and both soluble by casein. > > So just raise a glass of milk as you chow down! This would work if it wasn’t for the fact that milk is inutterably vile and awful tasting, and would probably make me retch if I tried to swallow a chug of it plain. Bleagh. I am getting queasy just imagining it. Yes I realize that my aversion to the foulness that is the flavor of milk is not universal, but that’s just because the rest of you haven’t realized it yet. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-too-hot-peppery-to-eat-how-to-mellow-it/589435/31 "2011-07-19T15:42:00Z")
Shoot - now I goota go score some sausage and duck whip me up a gumbo. Yeah I know it’s not “authentic” but sausage and duck confit gumbo is one of the best damn things you’ll ever put in your mouth. ---
**Author:** ![zeldarae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/f14d63/32.png) [@zeldarae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zeldarae)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-too-hot-peppery-to-eat-how-to-mellow-it/589435/32 "2011-07-19T19:11:33Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Shoot - now I goota go score some sausage and duck whip me up a gumbo. > Yeah I know it’s not “authentic” but sausage and duck confit gumbo is one of the best damn things you’ll ever put in your mouth. Honey, that’s as authentic as chicken and sausage gumbo! ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-too-hot-peppery-to-eat-how-to-mellow-it/589435/33 "2011-07-19T19:13:04Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Honestly? If something I try comes out inedible it gets tossed or goes to the dog and chickens. Life is too short to eat inedible foods. I will eat dressed rice or noodles for a few days if I am short of money rather than try to eat something that inedible. I’m with you there. Money isn’t an issue, and although I don’t like wasting food, I don’t want to suffer through food that’s too hot to eat or slop that’s been adulterated to extremes in an effort to make it edible. We’re probably going to scrap the leftovers and go out for a couple nights this week. > [@pulykamell](#): > > Cool looking book. I’m going to have to add that to my wish list. I have a few old school Creole and cajun cookbooks here, but nothing specifically cajun. That photo on the cover looks awesome: rustic and delectable. We had already tried one other recipe from that book that turned out really good, so we’re not giving up on this book; we’ll try other recipes and be more judicious with the pepper application. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-too-hot-peppery-to-eat-how-to-mellow-it/589435/34 "2011-07-20T03:51:41Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Is there something we can add to it to help take the edge off of the heat without totally bastardizing the flavor? You keep eating it until it is no longer too hot. It’s called “educating your palate.” Of course, like all addictions, there comes a time when that will no longer be hot enough, and you will make your etouffee by substituting an habenero for the jalopeno (keep the poblano for flavor.). Then a second and a third. There comes a point where your farts combust spontaneously, singeing your pants, but you won’t care because it still isn’t hot enough. Or you could wimp out by following the advice of cheeseheads like **Qadgop** , for whom black pepper needs to tone it down a notch. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-too-hot-peppery-to-eat-how-to-mellow-it/589435/35 "2011-07-20T04:43:12Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > The dud runs restaurants in NoLa … he follows the fads. It is currently faddish to pepper the bleeding fuck out of foods that are supposed to be _mildly_ hot. maybe I just like things hotter than some, but I’d consider one jalapeno, one poblano (which has fairly little heat) and some cayenne to be “mild.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-too-hot-peppery-to-eat-how-to-mellow-it/589435/36 "2011-07-20T05:45:31Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > maybe I just like things hotter than some, but I’d consider one jalapeno, one poblano (which has fairly little heat) and some cayenne to be “mild.” No, one jalapeno and one poblano is usually pretty mild. That said, peppers vary wildly. I make a cream of poblano corn-chowder type thingy that usually is okay for pretty much most people with low heat tolerances. Every once in awhile though, the soup ends up too spicy for these people, with the poblanos being as hot as a standard jalapeno (and much, much bigger.) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-too-hot-peppery-to-eat-how-to-mellow-it/589435/37 "2011-07-20T05:57:26Z")
Pussy of a Polack. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-too-hot-peppery-to-eat-how-to-mellow-it/589435/38 "2011-07-20T05:58:38Z")
NOTE: I’m a pussy of a Bohunk, but I’m working on it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-too-hot-peppery-to-eat-how-to-mellow-it/589435/39 "2011-07-20T07:11:10Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Pussy of a Polack. 😉 Not sure what you mean. I eat raw habaneros and Scotch bonnets on their own off my pepper plants in the backyard during the late summer. I hate how people associate eating hot peppers with machismo, but the truth is I have built up my tolerance to the point that it really takes serious, serious heat to register. My point was that jalapenos and poblanos vary in heat, so that people who only can handle mild peppers may occasionally get a batch that is too hot for them. I’m not saying they’re spicy for my palate. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-too-hot-peppery-to-eat-how-to-mellow-it/589435/40 "2011-07-20T12:23:37Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Or you could wimp out by following the advice of cheeseheads like **Qadgop** , for whom black pepper needs to tone it down a notch. 😉 I not only eat neutronium, but I’ve eaten habaneros. Habaneros burn a bit more on the way out than neutronium does. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-too-hot-peppery-to-eat-how-to-mellow-it/589435.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-too-hot-peppery-to-eat-how-to-mellow-it/589435.md?page=3)