Discussion
For a while, I was under the impression that all spiciness, or burning sensation in food flavoring, would come from capsaicin, the compound that causes it in chili peppers. Then I realized that Sichuan peppers are a quite different kind of heat. Wasabi (horseradish) is different yet again.
How many hot-flavored compounds are there? At least five!
Kalsec: "The Elements of Heat"
@clacke don't forget about the ever so scary resiniferatoxin : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resiniferatoxin?wprov=sfla1
@clacke
Interesting that allyl isothiocyanate is a fairly small molecule. I wonder if that small size has something to do with the โin the sinusesโ experience of eating it. Maybe a small amount evaporates and goes into the nose.
With the added bonus of needing different drinks to quench them!
@clacke this implies one could make wasabi pepper spray... ๐ค
@clacke Looks like a @SkinnyLatte spice rack :-)
@clacke I knew wasabi was different--from the time I thought a bowl of it was guacamole and ate a bunch at once. It's a different experience of spiciness; you feel it in your sinuses, and it passes quickly.
Come to think of it, I've had an accidental experience with Szechuan petters, too, eating Chinese food on a date in the dark at a drive-in movie. They were just in there to contribute flavor, not really to be directly eaten. That stuff just keeps burning, waaaay longer than chili peppers.
@clacke There are additional spicy compounds ... but let's stick with the ones that aren't toxic nightmares.
@clacke Indeed, Sichuan peppers activate nerve endings in the lips and gums, which you can test by eating Sichuan food soon after having gum surgery, though you would be very much better off just taking my word for it instead.
@clacke @temptoetiam BTW sichuan peppers are not peppers, but from the same family as citrus ๐
@clacke Dang I knew about all these except for Szechuan pepper. I have been avoiding szechuan cuisine as I've been told peanuts are everywhere and I'm allergic, and I don't think I've ever actually had Szechuan pepper ๐ฎ
Definitely have to get some now though, it's gonna be *wild* tasting a whole new compound that I didn't even know about as a fully-grown adult
@clacke
super insteresting !
Will go to bed less stupid.
Thanks !
@clacke I have a friend who is extremely sensitive to anything spicy, but she found sichuan pepper pleasant. We both experience it as some sensation different from spicy.
@clacke All of these subjectively feel and taste very differently, so it makes sense they are different compounds. Itโs nice to know exactly what chemical causes those sensations!