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Comment by maury91 | Hacker News Reader

I'm from center ( Sardinia ), we also do Aglio, olio e peperoncino. We do use spicy peppers, but I must say they are not so common, majority of recipes don't use them but some people add them to taste.

I do also like to add some spiciness, but the problem is that if you add just a little bit too much you taste only the spiciness and nothing else

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It works in reverse too. For people who habitually eat spicy food, when eating something non-spicy you can end up only tasting the "blandness" and not appreciating the flavours. Exactly like how cold food just doesn't taste as good as warm food (if it's meant to be warm), even though it's the exact same food.

> Exactly like how cold food just doesn't taste as good as warm food (if it's meant to be warm), even though it's the exact same food.

sometimes the temperature really does change the food though. for example, a cheese sauce is a delicate emulsion of fat and proteins that is only stable in a certain temperature range. outside that range, the fat separates and you no longer have a sauce. of course if you reheat it, you can get back to the same consistency. on the other hand, coffee chemically changes as it cools. even if you could ignore the temperature, the cold cup wouldn't be the same as the warm cup. and if you reheat it, it changes even more.

> I'm from center ( Sardinia ), we also do Aglio, olio e peperoncino. We do use spicy peppers, but I must say they are not so common, majority of recipes don't use them but some people add them to taste.

The center [0] would be Emilia Romanga, no? I was led to believe that Sardinia, like Corisca, is its own thing culturally speaking, isn't? I mena its been inhabited and conquered by every major European/Arab power at some point and its food definitely reflects that.

Then again I'm also a walking contradiction: I lived and worked in Modena and Maranello and I'd cook southern recipes in an agrotourism kitchen with Northern and Central ingredients. I loved the look when as a Californian I nailed the right balance of spiciness and savoriness to satisfy a northerner (say Milan) for another order on something like pasta con le sarde.

The owner, from Sicily, was always taken back by how well accepting his clientele (mainly Ferrari factory workers or eco-tourists from the North visiting the countryside) were to Southern dishes, especially those that 'a Californian made' who has to date never stepped foot in the 'proper' South.

The furthest south I've ever gone was Bologna! I just really like southern cuisine and cooked and read a bunch of old hand me down cookbooks the owner brought with him and blogs and misc videos online while I did my apprenticeship in ER. I just find it more interesting as Northern food always felt too bloaty given it's emphasis on cheeses, butters and creams, which after having spent most of my time in Switzerland felt redundant.

0: https://martinmb.wixsite.com/ilmeteomartinmb/post/emilia-rom...

I think many would disagree - I have never found that capsaicin heat detracts from the other flavors. Indeed, if you look at reviews for even extremely hot sauces, you will often see complaints about the ones that rely only on heat, and do not have good flavor.

I spent one day in Cagliari and had a lovely time. One afternoon is an injustice to the island, but the whole trip was spurred by Ryan air's 10 euros flight tickets from Rome :D

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