Home of the bland- Americans and spicy food

In My Humble Opinion
1

This is somewhere between a muse, a question and a rant.

I’ve been looking at recipe websites looking for something fun to cook tonight.

What I see is pretty shocking. I’ve been living in my gourmet-grocery store shell a bit too long, I guess.

Americans, quite simply, like their food bland. Look at our comfort foods- mashed potatos, rice pudding, even that nasty green bean cassrole. Bland. A huge amount of the recipes I saw had instructions on how to omit the spices if you don’t like them. One recipe warned “This one is too spicy for some”. The only spicy things they used were pepperjack cheese. No peppers. No hot sauce. Just pepperjack cheese. A little bit. In a cassarole.

Most of the recipies did not use any spices at all. And I’m not just talking about hot spices. Even their psueudo-Mexican and pseudo-Indian and pseudo-Italian recipes were absent of cumin and coriander and cayenne pepper and even safe things like basil. Your lucky if you get seasoned salt. Granted, most of them focused on hamburger and velveeta and the like. But when I’m eating cheap crappy food thats even more reason to spice things up!

And don’t get me started on kids and old people. I can understand the elderly having more delicate stomachs. But kids have no excuse. I occasionally hang around a Disneyland themed message board- which is pretty popular with people with small children. From what I gather the only thing kids eat nowdays are chicken nuggets. They might have a hamburger or some speghetti once in a while. Maybe some pizza or a grilled cheese sandwhich. But that is literally it.

These parents jump over hoops, never enjoy a meal at a sit-down restaurant, and ask ridiculous things like “will McDonalds deliver to my room?” because they idea of a kid eating something other than chicken nuggets is completely foreign to them. And they swear to high heaven that their little darling would never, ever, eat anything that isn’t chicken nuggets. In fact, if not given chicken nuggets at their every demand the kid’ll starve to death.

I can understand picky eaters. Once your an adult and your a picky eater, theres nothing you can do. As a vegetarian, I have sympathy for them. But why would you subject that unto your kids? I know that this is where America’s bland picky eater obsession comes from, and why do we let it happen?

Now the question, is it like this in other countries? What do all the crotchety old folks eat at the Indian equivelent of Hometown Buffet? What do the little kids in Japan eat to the exclusion of all other things?

2

Ha! You actually think kids wouldn’t be picky eaters if their parents just gave them more choices?

3

My Indian friends tell me that there is no equivalent of Hometown Buffet; there is Mom’s Cooking and Grandma’s Cooking (an maybe The Maid’s Cooking) and that is it. The whole concept of paying other people to cook for you is not all that standard in the grand scheme of things.

So there are a lot of people who are only comfortable eating what they grew up eating. But there are not so many people, on the global scale at least, who are only comfortable eating what they grew up eating who ALSO have enough money to travel, and thus find out that other people’s comfort food is different.

Have you heard the old chestnut that the British were so prone to colonization because they were desparate to find competent cooks?

4

Is it really that bad, sven? Maybe growing up in Louisiana is even more different from elsewhere than I thought. I always found that elderly people ate things that would melt steel (one lady of my acquaintance lamented that “the taste buds are the first to go”), and my niece and nephew grew up eating tabasco sauce on everything (like me before them). They do eat chicken tenders…but most assuredly not bland ones. Something I’ve noticed, though, is that kids tend to want relatively mild, familiar foods when travelling. My working theory is that it’s a balance for the excitement and overstimulation that comes with being in a new place.

Most kids are picky one way or another. If their parents are firm enough about making them try new things, they’ll generally develop a broad enough list of “acceptable” foods to avoid any really major hassles. My niece and nephew were each allowed to select three, and only three, foods that they never had to eat. They were stuck with everything else. That usually got them to give new stuff a shot, because they didn’t want to waste all their “slots” only to be confronted with brussels sprouts or squid later. :slight_smile:

5

Nope, they’d still be picky, just about different things. My kids were exposed to lots of different foods when they were young. Neither one insisted on chicken nuggets or burgers or pizza . Of course, they would have been content to live on lobster ,crab , mussels and squid, along with a few Chinese dishes involving such ingredients as chicken feet and seaweed.

6

I know they would. I took my three year old cousin out to Indian food once. Everyone in the family shook their heads and say he’d never eat it. How could they know? He’d never even seen Indian food!

At first he shook his head and said “no” a lot. Then he discovered that the pompadoms are a lot like chips. Then he realized he liked naan. And that fish pakoras are a lot like chicken nuggets. And that mango lassis are really really good. So in the end, the kid had a full (if admittedly vegetable free) meal. And hopefully next time he confronts an Indian restaurant he won’t remember “Oh, Bobby doesn’t like that stuff” and take it as a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Not that I think parents are to blame. I blame a specific set of corporations that has branded childhood away. They convince kids at a really early age that there is food especially for kids, and that they should not be expected to eat anything else. For a recent example, look at how “kids” TV dinners have taken off. When I was a kid they were just coming into the stores, and the idea of a TV dinner especially for kids was novel. Now it is a matter of course to pick up the kids TV dinner and trying to get the Swansons on sale is likely to lead to a screaming fit.

7

I’ve never lived in the States, so I’m looking at the situation from the outside…

Whenever I look for recipes on the internet, I usually avoid anything written in English. Not that all the recipes are bad but too many of them are indeed very, very bland. If you compare the contents of English, French, Spanish and Japanese recipe sites, the difference is quite shocking.

However, to what point is this regional? When I think of “American” food, I do think about boring casseroles and tv dinners, but I also think about fiery Tex-Mex, luscious Cajun and colourful Californian cuisines.

I agree also that kids can often be very picky about food but what they’re picky about can be surprising. I used to go crazy (and still do) over squid, scallops, and horse meat. Meanwhile, I have a cousin who since the age of three could never get enough raw fish.

8

The thing that kinda bugs me here is saying Americans like their food like that. Do you mean mostly caucasian american or just people around you? I live near L.A. and almost everyone around here totally digs spicey food. And my grandma makes chilli that will take the white off of rice! As for the young kids being so picky, I agree with that. My little sister is a junk/fast food fanatic, and she is very picky about what she eats. I point to the sign my grandma has in her kitchen…
You Have 2 Choices For Dinner… Take It Or Leave It!!

9

Come here, eat my habanero-chipotle infused chili. It will clean out your sinuses and other orfices as well.

We’re not all afraid of spice.

Curry is a staple in my kitchen, as is cayenne, and cumin.

10

I think picky eaters are born, not made, but of course there is some nurture with the nature. I was never a picky eater, and neither are my kids. My brother was a picky eater, my mom strained the lumps out of his spaghetti sauce, and now his kids live on bread and spaghetti-os.
Here in Denver there are a multitude of restaurants with spicey, adventurous culinary choices, and farmer’s markets galore.
Even Safeway regularly carries many items which perhaps once were considered specialty, from fresh arugula to Mexican queso.
I am sure there are plenty of Americans who indeed do prefer blah food, but I do not think they are the majority here.

11

It is that old rule of the SDMB again - any discussion of food will contain an insult to British cooking as soon as humanly possible.

Second reply. Good effort.

12

Sven, I think you’re a bit off on some of your basic assumptions. You talk about comfort foods and how bland they are. Many people’s comfort foods consist of things like mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and peanut butter sandwiches. But why are foods like these comfort foods? In most cases, it’s because these are beloved foods from childhood.

So it’s those darn kids that are at fault, right? Kids have no excuse. There’s no reason that kids can’t enjoy the same foods that the grownups enjoy, right? Wrong.

There’s a reason that kids’ tastes run they way they are. Kids have a much more sensitive sense of taste than adults do. They taste flavors much more intensively and are easily overwhelmed by complex flavors. Therefore, it’s not that they prefer foods that are bland, they prefer foods that are simple, i.e., things like chicken nuggets, hot dogs, and various sweets.

I also challange your assumption that Americans like their food bland. Drive through any large city and notice the proliferation of “ethnic” eateries. Chinese, Mexican, and Italian cuisines, to name a few, are not exactly known for their lack of spice. What’s one of the most popular condiments in the country? Salsa. Cooking shows, such as those on the Food Network, are extrordinarily popular even though the chefs there make liberal use of spices (Bam!).

Why then are there such dire warnings or suggestions regarding the removal of spices in the recipies that you found? I can’t say for certain, but if I had to hazzard a guess, I’d say that it’s due to the differences in how people react to spicy foods. Some people who are sensitive to spicy foods have to have a toned down alternative or it will be inedible to them, whereas those who love food with some kick can usually handle the lower octane alternative.

13

I think the mashed poatatoes and velveeta cheese containing dishes are a midwest thing. But if you look at the regions you’ll find wonderful spicy and flavorful dishes all over.

My mom’s from Minnesota and we grew up on starch, meat and vegetable. Spices were butter, salt, black pepper, and for spicy dishes we had oregano, thyme and parsley.
Us kids were begging her to use more spices.
My mother only eats bland food and makes faces (like a little child) when I make something to eat, she has never once tried my cooking.
I think so much food is produced in such large quantities and engineered for freshness and apearance that the taste of it is long gone. I read that rabbit tastes more like real chicken than chicken does.

14

I’m surprised you’re saying this coming from Santa Cruz, even sven. The Bay Area ( and near environs, so counting SC ) is hardly party central for bland food. In fact when I had a friend living here who was originally from Rochester, NY and absolutely would not anything remotely “ethnic” or “spicy”, it was quite a challenge finding food that was acceptable for all when several friends went out.

If you want bland, try Mexican ( so-called :wink: ) food from the Canadian prairie sometime :p.

  • Tamerlane
15

I cook typical American dishes along with a few ethnic things and I have a huge selection of herbs and spices to choose from; basil, thyme, marjoram, sage, oregino, savory, dry mustard, paprika, chilli powder, bay, cumin, coriander, cloves, cinnimon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, mint, etc. (that’s just off the top of my head) People who haven’t burned their taste buds off tell me they like my cooking. It is very well, and sometimes very subtlely, spiced.

What I don’t have is twenty different kinds of toxic chillis, quarts of hot sauces you could either torture people with or strip paint or any other “extreme” foods that seem to be all the rage.

Personally I like to taste the food I am eating not just the Liquid Fire that somebody soaked it in before cooking it. I think the great chilli invation is the worst thing to ever happen to American cooking. Its getting so you can’t order anything at a resteraunt without it coming either dosed with some kind of hot sauce, topped with a dozen jalipenos or coated with “five alarm” spice mix. Nobody worries about whether the food is good any more. No one can taste it.

16

I have to agree with this.

Mexican food is one of the most popular choices for Americans. True, I’ve had some pretty bland stuff; but I’ve also had stuff that will melt your innards. (Anecdote signifying nothing: I was at a Mexican restaurant in New Orleans and I found the salsa to be lacking in heat. I asked for some jalapenos and ate my tortilla chips with them instead of the salsa. The waitress looked incredulous. My friend said, “He’s from California. They do that.”)

Cajun food can have some kick to it. And remember that Tabasco® sauce is a product of Louisiana. From casual observation, I’d say that king-pao is one of the most popular dishes at Chinese restaurants. Vietnamese food is commonly served with spicy little Thai chilis. Indian food is not as common in most areas as Mexican or Chinese, but it’s still a popular choice for many Americans. There’s some nice heat in chicken vindaloo (which can be ordered in varying degrees of heat). And then there is the Thai pa-naeng (curry). You want more? What would sushi be without wasabi?

Of course, heat is only one kind of “spicy”. The Mexican, Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Indian and Cajun foods I mentioned also have very flavourful dishes that aren’t “hot” spicy, but nicely seasoned. Same goes for Italian food. Garlic, oregano, and other spices are essential. And if you want heat, just look how often pizzas are ordered with jalapenos or are sprinkled with dried red peppers.

It is true that “non-ethnic” foods in America can be bland. But to say that “Americans like their food bland” is substantially incorrect, as evidenced by the examples I and others have given.

17

That should have been kung pao.

18

Sorry, even sven. You’re totally divorced from reality here. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love spicy food. And one of my comfort foods is cajun peanuts.

Kids like fast food because it’s marketed at them 24/7. I mean, come on. Your sample population is a message board for Disneyland.

19

I think kids are picky eaters because it’s an area where they are able to have some control (you can’t MAKE them eat it).

Bland food? Bland folks or people with stomach problems, maybe. I grew up in the South and we likes our vittles hot!

20

Try Korean or Mexican food in Germany. Or Japanese food for that matter. The wasabi was sweet! sweet!? :’( I miss good American food. aka Cuban, Korean, Peruvian, Thai, Chinese (real sit down cuisine), Japanese, Brazilian, Mexican, Tex-Mex, Indian, Ethiopoan, and all other mixes of the above.
:’(