Curry Spicyness Level - BS? (ingredient, restaurant, Indian, mild)

[vistas]

So there's a lot of different places that let you pick the spicyness level from 1-10. To me.. it sounds ridiculous. How in the world would they be able to calibrate to that level of precision? Do they possess a special "spice-o-meter"? Or they just measure the quantity of the spice added accordingly? (hmm wait that would make sense)

[burdell]

It's a relative scale, not an exact one that conforms to any standard.

What's a 5 in one place can well be a 2 or a 10 in other places.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

The "hot" comes from hot peppers. If you want mild you use a mild pepper or don't add peppers. If you want a 10 plus, you add the fiery hot peppers.

The actually spices would remain the same, so all are the same spiciness. It is the heat that is different.

[Barking Spider]

I make my own curry powder. Its probably a 6 if you go by the hotness I get at the local Thai place. However, when I have friends over for dinner that like it hotter, then I just add a little fresh chile or more red pepper flakes. It goes from just beads of sweat on forehead to eyes watering.

[ccm123]

I agree. I once picked an "8" at a Thai restaurant and it was lightly spiced, while at another one, an "8" caused sweat to form on my head.

Originally Posted by burdell

It's a relative scale, not an exact one that conforms to any standard.

What's a 5 in one place can well be a 2 or a 10 in other places.

[jeepman91919]

They do it so if you go to the same place repeatedly, and you know you like it a 5-hot at this particular place for example, then it's going to be about the same level of spiciness every time you get it.

[Old Town FFX]

The best way to do it, is if say you're at an Indian Restaurant, and you want your Vindaloo proper spicy, say, "Please, let the kitchen/Chef know I would like it Indian Hot", the same can be said for much of the scale. A lot of kitchens tone/dumb things down, because of the pallets of the uninformed.

Same tactic can be used in your ethnic restaurant of choice. Hell, most of the servers I have said it to, LIKE that I acknowledge, and appreciate the difference between what they scale to a 10 v. what is a TRUE 10 to them.

[momtothree]

Depending on the dish, they can bring the hot peppers/spices on the side. Then you can add to your taste. That's what they do for us at the Thai ans Indian places.

[Cliffie]

I never went any place that asked you anything more precise than hot/medium/low/no spice. And the real question to me is, when you ask for no spice, are they going to nuke you anyway? Because that happens sometimes.

[vistas]

Well, the 0-10 seems very scientific. Are they really measuring it with this level of precision and if so, how? Still a mystery to me. It would make sense if they use some kind of a measuring cup and add the "hot" ingredient accordingly.