The Revenge of the Bland
American cuisine focuses on the bland. I don’t know what it is, but apple pie, turkey, mashed potatoes, hamburgers, steak, casseroles, and what you have tend to be light on the spice, measured in the flavor, balanced. No Poblano peppers, no extravagant ginger, sensuous garlic, taste-explosive mole. American cuisine, at least the fast food version, has conquered the world because it’s not offensive to anyone.
The downside: you can’t control how much you eat. Popcorn is bland – so bland that you can just stuff it down your mouth until well after feeling sick, because why not? Milk chocolate is bland – and have you tried putting down that bag of M&Ms? French fries are all crunch, salt, carbs, and fat – bland and unstoppable. Let’s not even talk about cereals, mac&cheese, or marshmallows.
Things with lots of flavor – good or bad – reach saturation faster. Try eating a pound of dark chocolate M&Ms (really, don’t), or a dozen mole tamales. You would have a really hard time. Too much flavor.
So, I thought to myself, why don’t you add some flavor to the foods you eat, and see whether you can eat less? Lo and behold, it worked (for me)! Try adding ginger to apple sauce, or wasabi to your French fries, or dark chocolate on your Graham crackers. It works (for me)!