Spicy Food in the Wilderness - your thoughts please

Your body sweats because it's heating up. Eating a pepper that contains heat producing chemicals and raises your core temperature does not "help you cool down".
Red pepper/cayenene can also be taken in capsules. Temporarily raising your body temperature does have an application in cold weather.
Or would y'all rather people jump in a lake so their body will know to raise it's temperature when they're cold?
 
I don't go hardcore - but some Lowery's, black pepper and garlic can make shoe leather edible if needed. I do try to keep some with me as some of that freeze dried stuff seems to be the most purposely bland food I've ever had.
 
OwenM said:
Your body sweats because it's heating up. Eating a pepper that contains heat producing chemicals and raises your core temperature does not "help you cool down".
Red pepper/cayenene can also be taken in capsules. Temporarily raising your body temperature does have an application in cold weather.
Or would y'all rather people jump in a lake so their body will know to raise it's temperature when they're cold?
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If that's the case, then we should avoid eating spicy foods right before bedtime when cold camping, for the same reason that you should avoid alcohol when you're cold. If it's a vasodilator (as is alcohol), then you would lose body heat faster than you should.
 
lightleak said:
So I am going for something slightly different: Nong Shim japanese style udon noodle soup
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Pssst! Nong Shim = Shin Cup!

I've not seen the udon style. I shall check this out tomorrow, but I didn't think you could get 'instant' udons???
 
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sodak said:
If that's the case, then we should avoid eating spicy foods right before bedtime when cold camping, for the same reason that you should avoid alcohol when you're cold. If it's a vasodilator (as is alcohol), then you would lose body heat faster than you should.
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I don't know. Caffeine's a vasoconstrictor. I don't feel colder after drinking hot coffee. I wonder if there's a line where one offsets the other, or if the temporary effect is all we recognize.
 
Soumds like we should set up some trial runs. "Honey, I need to go camping for a week, all in the name of science!". :)
 
I like moderate spices. Garlic, onion, basil and cayenne are the usual suspects. It's more for flavor than any "burn".
 
scruffuk said:
Pssst! Nong Shim = Shin Cup!

I've not seen the udon style. I shall check this out tomorrow, but I didn't think you could get 'instant' udons???
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Yes, they are instant, but they are not dried. The moist udon noodles are in a special plastic bag, that's why I mentioned the weight difference as it might be an issue to somebody who wants to go light. The taste is quite different from the shin cup, think more like miso soup/teriyaki sauce broth. If you like japanese flavours I am quite sure you will like it. Most of the time it comes in its own styrofoam/plastic bowl which is not really great for the environment but I am sure averageiowaguy will find an outdoorsy purpose for that! There seems to be a plainer version without the bowl as well, but I haven't seen that so far. On the plus side the styrofoam really keeps the broth hot for a longer time than the simple cardboard cup.
 
sodak said:
Soumds like we should set up some trial runs. "Honey, I need to go camping for a week, all in the name of science!". :)
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I'm volunteering to shave my entire body. ENTIRE body, for the trial runs.
 
Ah, I know the ones you mean then! I'll try and grab me some this weekend and give em a whirl.
I know for sure they have some Udon packs in the chiller but the last one I had was a bit funly tasting.

I do love Japanese and other east Asian cuisine with the exemption of Fish Sauce, which frankly gets right up my nose.

On the whole spicy food outdoors thing, its a great subject. I suppose 'spice' and 'heat' are two very different beasts though.
I can carry quite a lot of herbs and spices with me sometimes. I also take 'Instant Ginger Tea'. That's got a great sugary boost as well as the lasting warmth of the fiery ginger, without any of the downsides that chilli peppers etc can have.

I'm not the kinda guy to go daubing everything with hot sauce, but I do appreciate the lift and enhancement it has in food. Be it dried or fresh, I do use it quite often in cooking or to season....but in moderation.

Black Pepper is my culinary 'heat' pleasure. The bonus here is that piperines have more benefit on the body than capsaicins.
On top of that you get all the other aromatic flavours from the dried fruit on black pepper!

I love it...and its why I carry a little pepper mill in my bag when I go camping.
 
scruffuk said:
On the whole spicy food outdoors thing, its a great subject. I suppose 'spice' and 'heat' are two very different beasts though.
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I'm thinking more of heat for the experiments. And black pepper certainly qualifies. I've accidentally put too much black pepper in a dish and it ended up HOT.
 
Carbon1 said:
I'm volunteering to shave my entire body. ENTIRE body, for the trial runs.
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Great idea. I think that's the most logical thing to do, particularly if you do so with a chisel ground serrated stainless tanto.
Might as well discomfit the "Razors, Scissors, & Personal Grooming" folks while you're at it...
 
averageiowaguy said:
I'm thinking more of heat for the experiments. And black pepper certainly qualifies. I've accidentally put too much black pepper in a dish and it ended up HOT.
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Oh I don't doubt that. I've had Indian curries before that were all pepper for the heat element. They were considered very traditional curries, and family recipes so didn't really have a name. Can you imagine how many pepper-heated dishes must have been lost since the Portuguese brought the chili across the pond(s)??

I LOVE black pepper.

My girlfriend flies to Cambodia for two weeks tomorrow and its gonna be my number one 'gift' to bring back. Vietnam is the worlds largest producer of pepper apparently. That's not a lot of food miles to Cambodia, for the 'freshest' black pepper I'll most likely ever get my hands on.
 
OwenM said:
Great idea. I think that's the most logical thing to do, particularly if you do so with a chisel ground serrated stainless tanto.
Might as well discomfit the "Razors, Scissors, & Personal Grooming" folks while you're at it...
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Ha ha, I think I'm going to get along with you, Owen, something about your sarcasm. Reminds me of somebody I know...
 
OwenM said:
Great idea. I think that's the most logical thing to do, particularly if you do so with a chisel ground serrated stainless tanto.
Might as well discomfit the "Razors, Scissors, & Personal Grooming" folks while you're at it...
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He should shave with an axe and piss off every user of any kind of knife out there.

:D
 
I was at Wal Mart today buying shotgun shells and I stopped by the Asian section. Tucked away on the bottom shelf way towards the back were 5 packages of 'Shin Noodles.' As near as I can tell, it is the same stuff that comes in a Shin Cup, just built for two.

I'm taking the Kochanski winter course in a month. I checked on if it was legal for me to bring food into Canada and I think I can. I'm bringing up my Shin Noodles, some soy sauce and some Sriracha. I'm not sure what they have for grub up at the school, but soy sauce and Sriracha makes everything taste better. I'll be able to test extremely spicy food in cold weather.
 
averageiowaguy said:
If he really wants to see torches, pitchforks and chimpscreams, he should use a Cold Steel Trailhawk.
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No, no, that's become too mainstream in the 'Shrafter Mafia these days. Maybe their "axe gang" hatchet or their 52" Viking axe.

Ooooh, better yet, the Special Forces Shovel! Yeah, a shovel shave! Bust some of those shaving myths too!
 
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