I don’t fully understand how in the Western culture the term “spicy” has multiple meanings. It can mean the capsaicin burn of “hot” food, or it can mean simply something literally spicy, like curry. In the West, the textbook typical spicy food is an Indian curry, korma, vindaloo etc. which can be both, you can usually order them hot or not hot in a restaurant.
For example, srirocha (note: I only know the goose version, not the rooster one, the rooster one is hard to find in Europe) is “hot” like fsck, but it is not spicy, it has hardly any taste IMHO.
I suppose this must be something historical. The first spices imported were probably of the “hot” kind like black or white pepper.
Hypothesis: “hot” food is an aphrodisiac, perhaps back in the Middle Ages they were mainly used by aging noblemen to get a hard-on easier. I don’t see this effect on me (for me eggs work best for that purpose), but I have heard this hypothesis made by others.
Another interesting aspect of the English language is the distinction between spices and “herbs”. As far as I can tell, the difference is simply imported vs. native, not today, but like 500 years ago. Marjory (a herb) was grown locally in England, coriander (a spice) had to be imported. Nevertheless it is possible to use herbs to make food taste pretty spicy. Not in the “hot” sense.
in my word-map of the world; the word spice is the super-category that contains all flavoury herbs and spices. Technically spices are not all spicy; and thats probably where the problem lies. I have no idea how we came to call the “hot spices” spicy. chilli/pepper/curry. When cinnamon is another spicy which is not very spicy at all.
mainly keeping in mind that spice /= spicy. I guess the only explanation is that popular language is playing catch up with the world. Good defining terms only come out of a need to separate them. Renaming spices isn’t as important as “what do we call this binary-i/o device we just invented” (computers).
Another interesting aspect of the English language is the distinction between spices and “herbs”. As far as I can tell, the difference is simply imported vs. native, not today, but like 500 years ago.
Not sure this is true. I understand “herbs” to be specifically leafy parts of plants. Mustard, for example, which uses seeds is not a herb. Neither is horseradish which is a root. However both are native to Europe.
I don’t fully understand how in the Western culture the term “spicy” has multiple meanings. It can mean the capsaicin burn of “hot” food, or it can mean simply something literally spicy, like curry. In the West, the textbook typical spicy food is an Indian curry, korma, vindaloo etc. which can be both, you can usually order them hot or not hot in a restaurant.
For example, srirocha (note: I only know the goose version, not the rooster one, the rooster one is hard to find in Europe) is “hot” like fsck, but it is not spicy, it has hardly any taste IMHO.
I suppose this must be something historical. The first spices imported were probably of the “hot” kind like black or white pepper.
Hypothesis: “hot” food is an aphrodisiac, perhaps back in the Middle Ages they were mainly used by aging noblemen to get a hard-on easier. I don’t see this effect on me (for me eggs work best for that purpose), but I have heard this hypothesis made by others.
Another interesting aspect of the English language is the distinction between spices and “herbs”. As far as I can tell, the difference is simply imported vs. native, not today, but like 500 years ago. Marjory (a herb) was grown locally in England, coriander (a spice) had to be imported. Nevertheless it is possible to use herbs to make food taste pretty spicy. Not in the “hot” sense.
in my word-map of the world; the word spice is the super-category that contains all flavoury herbs and spices. Technically spices are not all spicy; and thats probably where the problem lies. I have no idea how we came to call the “hot spices” spicy. chilli/pepper/curry. When cinnamon is another spicy which is not very spicy at all.
mainly keeping in mind that spice /= spicy. I guess the only explanation is that popular language is playing catch up with the world. Good defining terms only come out of a need to separate them. Renaming spices isn’t as important as “what do we call this binary-i/o device we just invented” (computers).
Not sure this is true. I understand “herbs” to be specifically leafy parts of plants. Mustard, for example, which uses seeds is not a herb. Neither is horseradish which is a root. However both are native to Europe.