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.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
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!
This might not be a thing where you live, but every Indian (and Thai, for that matter) restaurant I've been to in Pittsburgh asks how spicy you want the dish on a 1–10 scale. As a white guy, 7 is usually the sweet spot (but may be a little tame), 8 is on the spicy side, and I couldn't imagine getting a 9 or 10. I've never ordered below a 7 but I imagine that the lower numbers are for more sensitive customers, like my mother who can detect the faintest hint of spice in something that seems bland to me. I'm doubtful that they'd dial back the relative spice level for "ethnic" customers if they're using such a scale, but I can see that they might do that to avoid offending gringos whose definition of spicy is a little less than the average Asian.
As for your experiment, I don't think the blinding and all the precautions are really necessary. For a relatively straightforward variable like spice level that manifests itself with obvious physical symptoms, if there's any real difference it should be enough to overcome any implicit bias you may have. If you really want to blind it, though, it's better to do it this way: Divide each order into, say, 10 bite-sized samples. Mark the bottom of each dish with a number and write down which number corresponds to which order. Refrigerate the samples for two hours and then renumber them without looking at the original numbers. Take a bite or two of each sample unblinded to establish a baseline. Taste each sample and write down your guess as to which order it is, under the assumption that the samples ordered under an Indian name will be spicier, and write down your guess next to the new numbers. After you're finished, look match the new numbers with the original number to see what corresponds and check to see how many times you guessed correctly. If you're in the neighborhood of 50%, you're just guessing and you can be sure that there's no difference to the orders. The closer you get to 100%, obviously, the more likely it is that there is a difference. If there's no difference, or only a subtle difference, though, you'll probably figure this out pretty quickly.
I've seen that at Thai restaurants, but not the Indian places in my area.
I do want to blind it. Thanks for the design suggestion!
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link