I have a question about Spanish food. Mexican and Asian food relies on
hot spices, but French and Italian doesn't. What about Spanish food?
The only thing I know about is paella, but I hate any sort of fish...

--
Cheers, Bev
"We need to cut more slack for the stupid; after all, somebody has
to populate the lower part of the bell curve." -- Dennis (evil)

On Fri, 11 Feb 2022 13:06:54 -0800, The Real Bev
<bashley101@gmail.com> wrote:

>I have a question about Spanish food. Mexican and Asian food relies on
>hot spices,

Some dishes do and some don't.

> but French and Italian doesn't.

Some dishes do and some don't.

> What about Spanish food?

Some dishes do and some don't.

>The only thing I know about is paella, but I hate any sort of fish

There are many varieties of paella. Perhaps some of them have fish,
but I don't know of any. Varieties with seafood are common, but as
far as I know, not fish. And some varieties don't even have seafood.

On 11/02/2022 22.06, The Real Bev wrote:
> I have a question about Spanish food.  Mexican and Asian food relies on
> hot spices, but French and Italian doesn't.  What about Spanish food?
> The only thing I know about is paella, but I hate any sort of fish...
>

:-D

No, we don't use hot spices. A bit of pepper.

For example, chorizo can be bought sweet or spicy, which is just mildly hot.

However, there are things like the Padrón peppers, which some are hot
and some not (a popular saying: pimientos de Padrón, unos pican y otros
non ("non" it is not Spanish but Galician → "Pementos de Padrón, uns
pican e outros non"))

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padr%C3%B3n_peppers

About the paella, it is almost a restricted denomination. There is a
variety of paella without seafood (except squid), but some refuse to
call it paella and say "rice with things", which is the one I like. If
it is a group lunch, I pass the sea food to my table neighbours, which
accept delighted :-D

--
Cheers,
Carlos E.R.

On 02/11/2022 01:25 PM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
> On 11/02/2022 22.06, The Real Bev wrote:
>> I have a question about Spanish food. Mexican and Asian food relies on
>> hot spices, but French and Italian doesn't. What about Spanish food?
>> The only thing I know about is paella, but I hate any sort of fish...
>
> No, we don't use hot spices. A bit of pepper.
>
> For example, chorizo can be bought sweet or spicy, which is just mildly hot.

Just what I wanted to know! I wonder what drives the taste for
painfully hot peppers... Machismo, of course, but I suspect it's more
than that. And more than covering up the taste of rotting food, too.

> However, there are things like the Padrón peppers, which some are hot
> and some not (a popular saying: pimientos de Padrón, unos pican y otros
> non ("non" it is not Spanish but Galician → "Pementos de Padrón, uns
> pican e outros non"))
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padr%C3%B3n_peppers
>
> About the paella, it is almost a restricted denomination. There is a
> variety of paella without seafood (except squid), but some refuse to
> call it paella and say "rice with things", which is the one I like. If
> it is a group lunch, I pass the sea food to my table neighbours, which
> accept delighted :-D

If it swims, it sucks. Exceptions for shrimp and scallops and maybe
halibut -- which at best has no taste at all -- it used to be cheap, but
not any more. Tuna (canned, of course) is OK, but it needs other
ingredients to cover up the possible fishy taste. Imitation crab is
good, but the real stuff isn't. I had lobster thermidor once when I was
very young, which I liked, but since then it's been undesirable.

Our Japanese friend hosted his anglo friends and made an early-morning
trip to the San Pedro fish market to get the VERY freshest fish (unknown
variety) to feed us. He needn't have bothered, although I was polite.
The best I could say about it was that it didn't taste like fish. Or
anything else. Apparently my gourmet credentials are somewhat lacking.

--
Cheers,Bev
"It is a matter of regret that many low, mean suspicions
turn out to be well-founded." -- Edgar Watson Howe

In article <su6qrh$s2m$1@dont-email.me>, The Real Bev
<bashley101@gmail.com> wrote:

> Tuna (canned, of course)

yuck. fresh tuna is *much* better.

> is OK, but it needs other
> ingredients to cover up the possible fishy taste.

tuna is a fish, so it's more than just a possible fishy taste.

On Fri, 11 Feb 2022 15:18:08 -0800, The Real Bev
<bashley101@gmail.com> wrote:

>On 02/11/2022 01:25 PM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
>> On 11/02/2022 22.06, The Real Bev wrote:
>>> I have a question about Spanish food. Mexican and Asian food relies on
>>> hot spices, but French and Italian doesn't. What about Spanish food?
>>> The only thing I know about is paella, but I hate any sort of fish...
>>
>> No, we don't use hot spices. A bit of pepper.
>>
>> For example, chorizo can be bought sweet or spicy, which is just mildly hot.
>
>Just what I wanted to know! I wonder what drives the taste for
>painfully hot peppers... Machismo, of course, but I suspect it's more
>than that. And more than covering up the taste of rotting food, too.
>
>> However, there are things like the Padrón peppers, which some are hot
>> and some not (a popular saying: pimientos de Padrón, unos pican y otros
>> non ("non" it is not Spanish but Galician → "Pementos de Padrón, uns
>> pican e outros non"))
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padr%C3%B3n_peppers
>>
>> About the paella, it is almost a restricted denomination. There is a
>> variety of paella without seafood (except squid), but some refuse to
>> call it paella and say "rice with things", which is the one I like. If
>> it is a group lunch, I pass the sea food to my table neighbours, which
>> accept delighted :-D
>
>If it swims, it sucks. Exceptions for shrimp and scallops and maybe
>halibut -- which at best has no taste at all -- it used to be cheap, but
>not any more. Tuna (canned, of course) is OK,

It's interesting how different we all are. I like fresh tuna, but I
hate canned tuna...

> but it needs other
>ingredients to cover up the possible fishy taste. Imitation crab is
>good, but the real stuff isn't.

....and I like real crab, and hate the imitation.

>I had lobster thermidor once when I was
>very young, which I liked, but since then it's been undesirable.

Lobster is one of my favorite foods.

>Our Japanese friend hosted his anglo friends and made an early-morning
>trip to the San Pedro fish market to get the VERY freshest fish (unknown
>variety) to feed us. He needn't have bothered, although I was polite.
>The best I could say about it was that it didn't taste like fish. Or
>anything else. Apparently my gourmet credentials are somewhat lacking.

On 02/11/2022 03:48 PM, Ken Blake wrote:
> On Fri, 11 Feb 2022 15:18:08 -0800, The Real Bev
> <bashley101@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>On 02/11/2022 01:25 PM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
>>> On 11/02/2022 22.06, The Real Bev wrote:
>>>> I have a question about Spanish food. Mexican and Asian food relies on
>>>> hot spices, but French and Italian doesn't. What about Spanish food?
>>>> The only thing I know about is paella, but I hate any sort of fish...
>>>
>>> No, we don't use hot spices. A bit of pepper.
>>>
>>> For example, chorizo can be bought sweet or spicy, which is just mildly hot.
>>
>>Just what I wanted to know! I wonder what drives the taste for
>>painfully hot peppers... Machismo, of course, but I suspect it's more
>>than that. And more than covering up the taste of rotting food, too.
>>
>>> However, there are things like the Padrón peppers, which some are hot
>>> and some not (a popular saying: pimientos de Padrón, unos pican y otros
>>> non ("non" it is not Spanish but Galician → "Pementos de Padrón, uns
>>> pican e outros non"))
>>>
>>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padr%C3%B3n_peppers
>>>
>>> About the paella, it is almost a restricted denomination. There is a
>>> variety of paella without seafood (except squid), but some refuse to
>>> call it paella and say "rice with things", which is the one I like. If
>>> it is a group lunch, I pass the sea food to my table neighbours, which
>>> accept delighted :-D
>>
>>If it swims, it sucks. Exceptions for shrimp and scallops and maybe
>>halibut -- which at best has no taste at all -- it used to be cheap, but
>>not any more. Tuna (canned, of course) is OK,
>
> It's interesting how different we all are. I like fresh tuna, but I
> hate canned tuna...

The Costco solid albacore is OK. Everything else is floor sweepings.

>> but it needs other
>>ingredients to cover up the possible fishy taste. Imitation crab is
>>good, but the real stuff isn't.
>
> ...and I like real crab, and hate the imitation.

The imitation has an interesting texture and doesn't seem fishy.
Albertson's (since closed) used to have good 'krab' salad, which we liked.

>>I had lobster thermidor once when I was
>>very young, which I liked, but since then it's been undesirable.
>
> Lobster is one of my favorite foods.

My grandson likes it too.

You clearly LIKE fish/seafood. I hate it, but I will defend to the
death your right....

>>Our Japanese friend hosted his anglo friends and made an early-morning
>>trip to the San Pedro fish market to get the VERY freshest fish (unknown
>>variety) to feed us. He needn't have bothered, although I was polite.
>>The best I could say about it was that it didn't taste like fish. Or
>>anything else. Apparently my gourmet credentials are somewhat lacking.

Burgers, in order: In N Out, Burger King, Carl's Jr, everything else...
but McD has the best fries. No idea why In N Out can't get them right.
'Regular' is just cooked potatoes and 'well done' is like the 'french
fries' that come in a can, sort of like long skinny potato chips.

--
Cheers, Bev
The beatings will continue until morale improves

On Fri, 11 Feb 2022 15:18:08 -0800, The Real Bev
<bashley101@gmail.com> wrote:

>On 02/11/2022 01:25 PM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
>> On 11/02/2022 22.06, The Real Bev wrote:
>>> I have a question about Spanish food. Mexican and Asian food relies on
>>> hot spices, but French and Italian doesn't. What about Spanish food?
>>> The only thing I know about is paella, but I hate any sort of fish...
>>
>> No, we don't use hot spices. A bit of pepper.
>>
>> For example, chorizo can be bought sweet or spicy, which is just mildly hot.
>
>Just what I wanted to know! I wonder what drives the taste for
>painfully hot peppers... Machismo, of course, but I suspect it's more
>than that. And more than covering up the taste of rotting food, too.
>
I live in Thailand where "hot" food is the norm and noticeably it is
the Ladies that eat the really hot stuff.
--
Cheers,

John B.

The Real Bev wrote:

> I have a question about Spanish food. Mexican and Asian food relies on
> hot spices, but French and Italian doesn't. What about Spanish food?
> The only thing I know about is paella, but I hate any sort of fish...

Reminder: When starting a discussion that is off-topic to the newsgroup,
please prefix your Subject header with "Off-Topic:", "OT:", "O.T.:" or
other prefix that identifies your post is unrelated to the newsgroup.

Sorry, Vanguard...

On 02/11/2022 05:30 PM, John B. wrote:
> On Fri, 11 Feb 2022 15:18:08 -0800, The Real Bev
> <bashley101@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>On 02/11/2022 01:25 PM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
>>> On 11/02/2022 22.06, The Real Bev wrote:
>>>> I have a question about Spanish food. Mexican and Asian food relies on
>>>> hot spices, but French and Italian doesn't. What about Spanish food?
>>>> The only thing I know about is paella, but I hate any sort of fish...
>>>
>>> No, we don't use hot spices. A bit of pepper.
>>>
>>> For example, chorizo can be bought sweet or spicy, which is just mildly hot.
>>
>>Just what I wanted to know! I wonder what drives the taste for
>>painfully hot peppers... Machismo, of course, but I suspect it's more
>>than that. And more than covering up the taste of rotting food, too.
>>
> I live in Thailand where "hot" food is the norm and noticeably it is
> the Ladies that eat the really hot stuff.

My Taiwanese friend loves hot food. The good Thai place here offers
your choice of heat -- 1 to 10. The first time we went there she
thought she wanted 10. The waiter convinced her to try 6. She agreed
with his choice :-) I generally go for 2. Hubby used to eat the hot
oil (sesame oil and crushed red pepper) by the spoonful, but not any more.

<sigh> I think I remember when we used to go out to lunch. We sat at
tables and people brought food to us. If they brought too much they
packed it up in little boxes and we took it home. Was I dreaming?

--
Cheers, Bev
"You can make a signature quote seem authoritative by
attributing it to a famous person." --- Sun Tzu

On Fri, 11 Feb 2022 21:23:50 -0800, The Real Bev
<bashley101@gmail.com> wrote:

>Sorry, Vanguard...
>
>On 02/11/2022 05:30 PM, John B. wrote:
>> On Fri, 11 Feb 2022 15:18:08 -0800, The Real Bev
>> <bashley101@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>>On 02/11/2022 01:25 PM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
>>>> On 11/02/2022 22.06, The Real Bev wrote:
>>>>> I have a question about Spanish food. Mexican and Asian food relies on
>>>>> hot spices, but French and Italian doesn't. What about Spanish food?
>>>>> The only thing I know about is paella, but I hate any sort of fish...
>>>>
>>>> No, we don't use hot spices. A bit of pepper.
>>>>
>>>> For example, chorizo can be bought sweet or spicy, which is just mildly hot.
>>>
>>>Just what I wanted to know! I wonder what drives the taste for
>>>painfully hot peppers... Machismo, of course, but I suspect it's more
>>>than that. And more than covering up the taste of rotting food, too.
>>>
>> I live in Thailand where "hot" food is the norm and noticeably it is
>> the Ladies that eat the really hot stuff.
>
>My Taiwanese friend loves hot food. The good Thai place here offers
>your choice of heat -- 1 to 10. The first time we went there she
>thought she wanted 10. The waiter convinced her to try 6. She agreed
>with his choice :-) I generally go for 2. Hubby used to eat the hot
>oil (sesame oil and crushed red pepper) by the spoonful, but not any more.
>
><sigh> I think I remember when we used to go out to lunch. We sat at
>tables and people brought food to us. If they brought too much they
>packed it up in little boxes and we took it home. Was I dreaming?

Years ago, I saw a bottle of "Louisiana Hot Sauce" in a shop
specializing in imported food and bought my Thai wife a bottle. She
tried a spoon fill and commented that "Well, it tastes good, but it
isn't hot" :-)
--
Cheers,

John B.

On 02/11/2022 10:52 PM, John B. wrote:
> On Fri, 11 Feb 2022 21:23:50 -0800, The Real Bev
> <bashley101@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>Sorry, Vanguard...
>>
>>On 02/11/2022 05:30 PM, John B. wrote:
>>> On Fri, 11 Feb 2022 15:18:08 -0800, The Real Bev
>>> <bashley101@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>On 02/11/2022 01:25 PM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
>>>>> On 11/02/2022 22.06, The Real Bev wrote:
>>>>>> I have a question about Spanish food. Mexican and Asian food relies on
>>>>>> hot spices, but French and Italian doesn't. What about Spanish food?
>>>>>> The only thing I know about is paella, but I hate any sort of fish...
>>>>>
>>>>> No, we don't use hot spices. A bit of pepper.
>>>>>
>>>>> For example, chorizo can be bought sweet or spicy, which is just mildly hot.
>>>>
>>>>Just what I wanted to know! I wonder what drives the taste for
>>>>painfully hot peppers... Machismo, of course, but I suspect it's more
>>>>than that. And more than covering up the taste of rotting food, too.
>>>>
>>> I live in Thailand where "hot" food is the norm and noticeably it is
>>> the Ladies that eat the really hot stuff.
>>
>>My Taiwanese friend loves hot food. The good Thai place here offers
>>your choice of heat -- 1 to 10. The first time we went there she
>>thought she wanted 10. The waiter convinced her to try 6. She agreed
>>with his choice :-) I generally go for 2. Hubby used to eat the hot
>>oil (sesame oil and crushed red pepper) by the spoonful, but not any more.
>>
>><sigh> I think I remember when we used to go out to lunch. We sat at
>>tables and people brought food to us. If they brought too much they
>>packed it up in little boxes and we took it home. Was I dreaming?
>
> Years ago, I saw a bottle of "Louisiana Hot Sauce" in a shop
> specializing in imported food and bought my Thai wife a bottle. She
> tried a spoon fill and commented that "Well, it tastes good, but it
> isn't hot" :-)

McIlhenny's tabasco sauce, perhaps. https://www.tabasco.com/ Good stuff.

Current fairly-hot-but-not-too-hot sauce is made by a local company
called Huy Fong (after the ship that brought the founder to the US from
Viet Nam, apparently). They make only 3 products, all excellent.
"Rooster sauce" because of the illustration on the bottles. (Walmart
sells all 3 of them significantly cheaper than elsewhere -- when in
stock, of course.)

The original factory was maybe 15 miles from my house, but they expanded
into a nearby town whose main claim to fame is a lot of big gravel pits.
Some residents complained that the occasional smell of roasting
peppers was dangerous air pollution and made a stink :-) Apparently a
scrubber was installed and the problem went away. I have no proof that
bribery was part of the negotiation, but it seems possible.

Irwindale (the town -- nowhere near anything like a city) paid the
Raiders (big-name pro football team) a $million just to CONSIDER
building a stadium in one of the gravel pits. You can probably tell
where this is going...

They're now the Las Vegas Raiders.

--
Cheers, Bev
"In all recorded history there has not been one economist who has
had to worry about where the next meal would come from."
-- Peter S. Drucker, who invented management

On 2022-02-12 00:48, Ken Blake wrote:
> On Fri, 11 Feb 2022 15:18:08 -0800, The Real Bev <bashley101@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 02/11/2022 01:25 PM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
>>> On 11/02/2022 22.06, The Real Bev wrote:

>>> About the paella, it is almost a restricted denomination. There is a
>>> variety of paella without seafood (except squid), but some refuse to
>>> call it paella and say "rice with things", which is the one I like. If
>>> it is a group lunch, I pass the sea food to my table neighbours, which
>>> accept delighted :-D
>>
>> If it swims, it sucks. Exceptions for shrimp and scallops and maybe
>> halibut -- which at best has no taste at all -- it used to be cheap, but
>> not any more. Tuna (canned, of course) is OK,
>
> It's interesting how different we all are. I like fresh tuna, but I
> hate canned tuna...

I love canned tuna in olive oil. Spanish style.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

On 2022-02-12 00:18, The Real Bev wrote:
> On 02/11/2022 01:25 PM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
>> On 11/02/2022 22.06, The Real Bev wrote:
>>> I have a question about Spanish food.  Mexican and Asian food relies on
>>> hot spices, but French and Italian doesn't.  What about Spanish food?
>>> The only thing I know about is paella, but I hate any sort of fish...
>>
>> No, we don't use hot spices. A bit of pepper.
>>
>> For example, chorizo can be bought sweet or spicy, which is just
>> mildly hot.
>
> Just what I wanted to know!  I wonder what drives the taste for
> painfully hot peppers...  Machismo, of course, but I suspect it's more
> than that.  And more than covering up the taste of rotting food, too.

Spices were used for preservation. The search for them was what pushed
Colón to find a way to Asia, but found the Americas in the middle
blocking the way :-p

>> However, there are things like the Padrón peppers, which some are hot
>> and some not (a popular saying: pimientos de Padrón, unos pican y otros
>> non ("non" it is not Spanish but Galician → "Pementos de Padrón, uns
>> pican e outros non"))
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padr%C3%B3n_peppers
>>
>> About the paella, it is almost a restricted denomination. There is a
>> variety of paella without seafood (except squid), but some refuse to
>> call it paella and say "rice with things", which is the one I like. If
>> it is a group lunch, I pass the sea food to my table neighbours, which
>> accept delighted :-D
>
> If it swims, it sucks.  Exceptions for shrimp and scallops and maybe
> halibut -- which at best has no taste at all -- it used to be cheap, but
> not any more.  Tuna (canned, of course) is OK, but it needs other
> ingredients to cover up the possible fishy taste. Imitation crab is
> good, but the real stuff isn't.  I had lobster thermidor once when I was
> very young, which I liked, but since then it's been undesirable.
>
> Our Japanese friend hosted his anglo friends and made an early-morning
> trip to the San Pedro fish market to get the VERY freshest fish (unknown
> variety) to feed us.  He needn't have bothered, although I was polite.
> The best I could say about it was that it didn't taste like fish.  Or
> anything else.  Apparently my gourmet credentials are somewhat lacking.

:-DD

--
Cheers, Carlos.

On 2/11/2022 4:33 PM, The Real Bev wrote:

<snip>

> Burgers, in order:  In N Out, Burger King, Carl's Jr, everything else...
> but McD has the best fries.  No idea why In N Out can't get them right.
>  'Regular' is just cooked potatoes and 'well done' is like the 'french
> fries' that come in a can, sort of like long skinny potato chips.

In N Out is stubborn and just wants to deep fry fresh potatoes, freshly
sliced. McDonald's "fries" have a lot of other ingredients.

McDonalds: "Potatoes, Vegetable Oil (canola Oil, Corn Oil, Soybean Oil,
Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Natural Beef Flavor [wheat And Milk
Derivatives]*), Dextrose, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate (maintain Color),
Salt. *natural Beef Flavor Contains Hydrolyzed Wheat And Hydrolyzed Milk
As Starting Ingredients."

In N Out: "Potatoes, Salt and Cottonseed oil"

The problem with In N Out fries is that you have to eat them within a
few minutes of them being fried. They don't age well for take-out.

On Sat, 12 Feb 2022 23:51:15 +0100, "Carlos E.R."
<robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:

>On 2022-02-12 00:48, Ken Blake wrote:
>> On Fri, 11 Feb 2022 15:18:08 -0800, The Real Bev <bashley101@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> On 02/11/2022 01:25 PM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
>>>> On 11/02/2022 22.06, The Real Bev wrote:
>
>
>>>> About the paella, it is almost a restricted denomination. There is a
>>>> variety of paella without seafood (except squid), but some refuse to
>>>> call it paella and say "rice with things", which is the one I like. If
>>>> it is a group lunch, I pass the sea food to my table neighbours, which
>>>> accept delighted :-D
>>>
>>> If it swims, it sucks. Exceptions for shrimp and scallops and maybe
>>> halibut -- which at best has no taste at all -- it used to be cheap, but
>>> not any more. Tuna (canned, of course) is OK,
>>
>> It's interesting how different we all are. I like fresh tuna, but I
>> hate canned tuna...
>
>I love canned tuna in olive oil. Spanish style.

I don't love it, but at least it's edible, unlike the American canned
tuna in water.