I know, it’s mostly the comments making fun of “bland european cuisine” that got to me; plural, so didn’t respond under one. The meme doesn’t even mention Europe. Sorry, should have been clearer.
And sure, you can say that soy sauce is spice, or that the scallions and sesame oil in scallion pancakes are a spice, or that the soup portion of french onion soup is nothing but spice… Personally, I think in those cases what you call “spice” is one of the ingredients being celebrated (or in the case of soy sauce, sometimes just a way to add liquid salt). Such as in the case of spaghetti aglio e olio, garlic is the thing (along with quality ingredients), whereas in spicy foods it’s nearly always about the balanced spice blend. Even in something like chili, the peppers play a smaller part.
I know, it’s mostly the comments making fun of “bland european cuisine” that got to me; plural, so didn’t respond under one. The meme doesn’t even mention Europe. Sorry, should have been clearer.
And sure, you can say that soy sauce is spice, or that the scallions and sesame oil in scallion pancakes are a spice, or that the soup portion of french onion soup is nothing but spice… Personally, I think in those cases what you call “spice” is one of the ingredients being celebrated (or in the case of soy sauce, sometimes just a way to add liquid salt). Such as in the case of spaghetti aglio e olio, garlic is the thing (along with quality ingredients), whereas in spicy foods it’s nearly always about the balanced spice blend. Even in something like chili, the peppers play a smaller part.