Why do we like spicy food?
CrowdScience
BBC
4.8 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 18 September 2020
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Many of us willingly subject ourselves to pain and irritation by eating chilli. CrowdScience listener Tina wonders what’s driving this apparent masochism: why does ‘feeling the burn’ make so many of us feel so good?
It’s just one of several tasty questions we tuck into in this episode. Also on the menu is stew: why does it taste better the next day? Listener Helen’s local delicacy is Welsh cawl, a meat and vegetable concoction. Tradition dictates it should be eaten the day after it’s made, but is there any science behind this?
And we finish the meal with cheese. Listener Leander asks what makes some cheeses blue, some hard and crumbly, and some run all over your fridge. How is milk transformed into such radically different end products?
Presented by Marnie Chesterton and Alex Lathbridge Produced by Cathy Edwards, Marnie Chesterton and Alex Lathbridge for the BBC World Service.
[Photo:Woman eating red Chilli Pepper. Credit: Getty Images]
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Take some time for yourself with soothing classical music from the mindful mix, the Science of |
| 0:07.0 | Happiness Podcast. |
| 0:08.0 | For the last 20 years I've dedicated my career to exploring the science of living a happier more meaningful life and I want |
| 0:14.4 | to share that science with you. |
| 0:16.1 | And just one thing, deep calm with Michael Mosley. |
| 0:19.4 | I want to help you tap in to your hidden relaxation response system and open the door to that |
| 0:25.5 | calmer place within. Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:36.5 | Hi yeah sorry Bobby'm going to see if a marine is it chesterton. That's me excellent. Okay, thank you. |
| 0:37.7 | What's in here? You're listening to crowd science from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:46.0 | I'm Moni, not Marine, Chesterton, and the parcel I've just received is a dish, |
| 0:51.0 | lovingly prepared by my fellow presenter Alex Lathbridge. |
| 0:55.0 | There's a note with this. If you don't like this, I'll fight you. |
| 1:00.0 | I've sent him some of my homemade food in return because we're having a virtual |
| 1:06.8 | dinner party over video chat. You are muted, unmute myself. You listener are also invited, though you have to provide your own food, I'm afraid. |
| 1:17.0 | And the reason for this feast, we have our listeners to thank because we've been sent a schmorgas board of food-based science questions. |
| 1:25.8 | And in this episode we deal with three courses of curiosity. |
| 1:30.4 | We've got the food, now I just need to get the technology to work. |
| 1:34.0 | Oh, one person is waiting, admit. |
| 1:37.0 | Hello! |
| 1:39.0 | Hi! |
| 1:40.0 | Do you want to see the spread? |
| 1:41.0 | Let me see the spread. |
... |
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