Idk I feel like buffalo wings as a whole were part of the American rediscovery of piquancy. Tex mex and Mexican food proliferating around the same time also contributed. It was all boomer era shifts. Idk if it was gen x or millenials where Indian food really became popular for most people, but Thai and other spicy Asian foods also have been rising in popularity. Hell when I was a kid Chinese restaurants had a few spicy options, now many have a few non spicy options.
Idk if Cajun will ever rise from its position where a lot of people like elements of it, but it’s definitely a bold thing to suggest a group of friends go out to get, but it is a US original cuisine that prides itself on being spicy.
Also vinegar based cayenne pepper hot sauces have been reasonably popular for a long time. I hear that started with smokers wanting to be able to taste their food.
In Spain and Italy they eat a lot of spicy food. Probably other countries too, but the stereotype is that all European food is as bland as English food or something.
It’s a stereotype that’s the reverse of the stereotype explained in the article. In most of Europe, perhaps with select exceptions, nobles looked down on the use of spices in cuisine when they became accessible to ordinary folk via colonialism. That led to a bit of an elitist attitude against spice which was the attitude I feel was the mainstream even as recently as the 90s in settler colonial nations from those of European descent. The vibe was, to be brief and blunt “don’t eat that you’ll never stop shitting” and real food is steak, casserole, meatloaf or whatever.
The reversal of that stereotype, since the Europeans that generally looked down on spice only make up 20% of the global population and most other regions enjoy it, was to say “no actually you’re the one with the bland food, it’s not that our food is too spicy”.
There’s exaggeration on both fronts but it’s interesting to see these different perspectives. Both have evolved over time.
Trevor Noah does a funny bit in his most recent standup where MLK Jr and his buddies go to a white diner - for the first time after ending segregation - and after having the (relatively) bland chicken, question everything they fought for.
There are many reasons but one is that modern European cuisine (over the past several centuries) generally looked down upon spice.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/03/26/394339284/how-snobbery-helped-take-the-spice-out-of-european-cooking
I’ve always wondered if Hot Ones was a concerted effort to broaden the horizons of those who were traditionally opposed to spice.
Idk I feel like buffalo wings as a whole were part of the American rediscovery of piquancy. Tex mex and Mexican food proliferating around the same time also contributed. It was all boomer era shifts. Idk if it was gen x or millenials where Indian food really became popular for most people, but Thai and other spicy Asian foods also have been rising in popularity. Hell when I was a kid Chinese restaurants had a few spicy options, now many have a few non spicy options.
Idk if Cajun will ever rise from its position where a lot of people like elements of it, but it’s definitely a bold thing to suggest a group of friends go out to get, but it is a US original cuisine that prides itself on being spicy.
Also vinegar based cayenne pepper hot sauces have been reasonably popular for a long time. I hear that started with smokers wanting to be able to taste their food.
In Spain and Italy they eat a lot of spicy food. Probably other countries too, but the stereotype is that all European food is as bland as English food or something.
It’s a stereotype that’s the reverse of the stereotype explained in the article. In most of Europe, perhaps with select exceptions, nobles looked down on the use of spices in cuisine when they became accessible to ordinary folk via colonialism. That led to a bit of an elitist attitude against spice which was the attitude I feel was the mainstream even as recently as the 90s in settler colonial nations from those of European descent. The vibe was, to be brief and blunt “don’t eat that you’ll never stop shitting” and real food is steak, casserole, meatloaf or whatever.
The reversal of that stereotype, since the Europeans that generally looked down on spice only make up 20% of the global population and most other regions enjoy it, was to say “no actually you’re the one with the bland food, it’s not that our food is too spicy”.
There’s exaggeration on both fronts but it’s interesting to see these different perspectives. Both have evolved over time.
Trevor Noah does a funny bit in his most recent standup where MLK Jr and his buddies go to a white diner - for the first time after ending segregation - and after having the (relatively) bland chicken, question everything they fought for.