Happy New Year!
Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.
Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.
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Notes -
I believe that Indian restaurants make food less spicy for non-Indian patrons and spicier (or at least regular spicy) for Indian patrons. This belief stems from a) Indian friends telling me that the white-washed Indian restaurants they've gone to aren't nearly as spicy as home, and b) me ordering the spiciest dishes (generally vindaloo) and not being phased by the spiciness.
I'd like to run some experiments to determine how true this is. I have practically zero experimental design experience and would like input/advice.
Here's my basic plan:
Order vindaloo takeout under a white name and pick up
Wait 30 min to prevent order batching
Order vindaloo takeout under an Indian name and pick up
Cool both in the refrigerator for two hours (this is to blind me to which dish is which by temperature)
Mark both to distinguish white vs. Indian (do this in a way that doesn't allow me to see)
Heat them both up evenly
Randomize so I don't know which dish I am eating
Sample one dish
Cleanse my palate (to start at spiciness zero)
Sample the other dish
Compare the two dishes' spiciness
I think recruiting a friend or two would help to add more data points and make the blinding easier/less prone to failure.
Open to any thoughts. And if you're in the Dallas area and interested in participating, let me know!
If you're going to be comparing between two things, you ought to do the triangle test. Three options, two are the same one is distinct. If you can't even tell which of the three is the odd one out, you have no business trying to guess which is which.
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