Heat: chilli, pepper and mustard
Also searched as: spicy, hot, chilli, capsaicin, burning mouth, toning down heat
In short: Spicy heat is not a taste but a heat and pain signal. In chilli it is triggered by , which dissolves in fat, not in water.
Like a false fire alarm: no fire, but the sensors report heat.
What happens
Capsaicin from chilli docks onto nerve endings that normally report heat. That is why chilli feels hot. Because capsaicin loves fat, water barely washes it away. helps most: studies show that it is mainly its protein that softens the heat, not only the fat. Pepper, mustard, horseradish and wasabi use other substances, some of which rise into the nose.
Why it matters
Explains why water does nothing against chilli but and milk do, and how to rescue a dish that is too spicy.
Rules of thumb
- Too spicy: add yoghurt, cream, coconut milk or milk, not water.
- Most of the heat sits in the pale membranes of the chilli, not in the seeds alone.
- Mustard and horseradish lose heat when cooked; chilli does not.
Levers
2
In practice
1
Milk and cheese
Raita or a dollop of yoghurt next to a curry is no accident: milk protein takes up capsaicin.
Sources · 2
- Penn State: Proteins in dairy and plant milks reduce oral burn from capsaicin
- Harold McGee: On Food and Cooking (2004)