That's because for us mortals, the flavor is completely overpowered by the capsaicin in most cases. I have relatively low capsaicin tolerance, and so I can't tell the difference between flavors of two different but equally spicy peppers because my brain is too occupied with the burn. It's hard not to focus on it.
:) You will notice that Mexican food is frequently accompanied by a variety of sauces and/or peppers. So you can try them and make the decision on which you want and how much you want and maximize the enjoyment. It is gotta be hot but not too much that you stop enjoying the food. That is how children learn.
Mexican food is usually designed to be complemented by different peppers, but a lot of American foods are modified from European traditions, where spicy peppers are rarer. So, spiciness itself is a more unusual taste in our food.
I think that the American culture (especially thinking about the Midwest) has the idea of "spicy vs not spicy", but not the idea of which flavor of pepper goes well with which kind of food. A lot of restaurants here will have black pepper and Tabasco sauce, but not much else, despite the fact that the vinegar in Tabasco will destroy the flavor of a lot of foods.
There's a culture of "spicy and mild", but not a culture of "spicy, but subtly flavored". Of course, I can always go to a Mexican restaurant and find a salsa that matches my food well. But even there, there are usually "mild", "medium", and "hot" labels on almost everything, rather than telling you what kind of peppers were used in preparing the sauce.
I generally thought the selection from the Midwest was bad - I'm from Indiana, and always lived in tiny to smallish "medium" sized towns. Often you are at odds with the grocery store, which may or may not carry much else. Most folks first intro to "spicy" food is Taco Bell and the local "authentic" Mexican restaurant. We (Midwesterners) simply haven't usually experienced anything else. Pure ignorance, really.
Then I moved to Norway. Oh, I was so wrong about selection. Tacos and Mexican-type flavors are very popular, albeit very mild. If I don't want the single 'normal' variety, I have to search for fresh peppers and hope they have them in stock. There isn't generally even an option for mild vs spicy. Wanting different flavors from different chilis is downright exotic.
Meny usually has a few options, and some of the foreign markets have them as well, at least in Oslo. You can even find Bird's eye chili at Kiwi on occasion.
But yeah, Norway is a horrible country for food. You pay an arm and a leg for barely edible stuff, and if you want to get really good ingredients you have to pay double or more!
It is honestly easier to find some ingredients in Oslo than Trondheim from what I've heard (and easier here than in the smaller towns) - probably simply because there are more people there. I find the Norwegian stores to be hit and miss on them: Sometimes Meny has birds eye, sometimes Coop has jalapenos (at the larger stores).
"Norway is a horrible country for food" .... It is a great country to live in if you want to vastly improve your cooking skills, though :)
Ah, yeah, I wasn't sure where in Norway you are. Yeah, in Oslo I think I've been able to find some sort of chili in every grocery store.
I actually think some of my cooking skills have declined, mainly because the stuff I liked to cook before require ingredients that are harder to find here (and cooking is less fun for me when I can't find what I consider to be quality ingredients).
I would just add, that tolerance is worth developing. You get a new world of flavors open to you, but also you get this wonderfully stimulating sensation which can help you feel good, but isn't necessarily fatty or sugary.
I cook with more peppers when I feel indicators of a possible cold or flu. It seems to help. I have also read claims of it eroding arterial plaque and lowering cholesterol. Only non-suspect study a quick Goog turned up was a NIH study on lowering cholesterol on rabbits(it did!).
It also makes the deserts' relative cold months more tolerable. Probably not a good idea in northerly parts where sweating on a sub-0 day/night might be a hazard.
I didn't even consider that, thanks for a new perspective. Good point about sweating in freezing weather though, you're right, you definitely want to stay as dry as possible in (for example) the boreal forests of Canada.
