Until very recently, I didn't have any kind of tolerance for spicy hot foods. I shunned salsa, feared curry, would not go anywhere near a jalepeno, and had never even heard of a habenero.
Shortly after we started dating, the Russian lover made a lamb curry for dinner. It was delicious...and painful. Tears and sweat poured down my cheeks; the Russian lover felt like a jerk, and told me I should stop eating and let him order out. But...it was delicious. I willed myself to endure the agony of the burning.
And after that, any time he made curry it was significantly toned down. And most of our cooking has stayed on the mild side of things.
But.
Something happened in the past few months, and suddenly I am craving spicy foods. Pregnancy is definitively ruled out, and I am at a loss to explain why the girl who winced at too many cracked black peppercorns is now suddenly looking for excuses to add jalepenos to every recipe. Hot sauce, hot peppers, chili powder. I want to feel the burn, and I want to feel it just at the limit where the agony is exquisite.
I did a google search to see if this portended anything other than being knocked up. Possibilities include:
-My body thinks I might be pregnant; I'm harboring a phantom pregnancy (!?!)
-I'm addicted to the endorphin release; I'm getting high.
-I have bad circulation
-I'm cold
-My taste buds are starting to die off with age
In any event, the internet tells me that I am not the only un-pregnant woman to go through a phase where all I want to consume is fire. I'm assured that this will probably pass before I reach the point where I have to buy hot peppers in bulk.
Or I start bringing the jalepenos into the bedroom...those pricey KY "tingling" lotions? Got nothing on a 25 cent chili pepper.
My palate isn't the only masochist.