Strong flavors

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I've started recently to realize that I seem to have a thing for strong flavors in food. I've always been like that. I like my food to be spicy, salty, super-seasoned, piled with black pepper, etc. My sister-in-law once made some steak tips that most of the family thought was far too flavorful. I thought it was the best thing ever! I absolutely love cinnamon candy, the stronger/hotter the better, and powerful mint gum.

I've read that many aspies are just the opposite, where they are sensitive to strong flavors, and prefer their food to be more bland. I just love how spicy food "feels" in my mouth. Is that almost a stim or something? I drink my tea and coffee just barely below the burning-my-mouth point. If it cools below that, I reheat it. Is anyone else like this?

some people have senses that need more stimuli to be activated.

I've found that the things you named, "spicy", "salty" etc are subjective.
I'm much like you, in that I prefer flavors others describe as "strong"-
past condiment obsessions include apple cider vinegar, mustard, and hot sauce, for example.
But whereas these things impart "strong" or "bold flavors" to most (in their own descriptions),
they're needed for me to taste anything at all.

I remember being yelled at a very early age for putting eight packets of sweetener in my (supposedly) already "sweet" tea at dine-in restaurants,
and crying when I was still younger as we drove away from fast food places, realizing they had forgotten to put in the BBQ sauce (if I could get my dad to remember to order some), and I wouldn't be able to eat the (to me) flavorless food without gagging.
My boyfriend's great-grandmother recently asked for a bite of my food when I was visiting, being that, for someone for whom seasoning amounts to a sprinkling of salt and pepper, peas swimming in Frank's Red Hot seemed kind of exotic, I guess. She started coughing and grabbed my glass of water.

I agree that it's very interesting to read here about hypersensitivity to taste on the spectrum, when I have the exact opposite condition.

I don't have the tendency toward liking high physical heat, as in temperature, but I do love "spicy" foods- my nose will be running and eyes watering, and that's the best kind of food, because it's the only kind I ever taste much of.

Yes, exactly! I tend to add "too much pepper" to my soup, so when I get to the end of the bowl I end up coughing after each spoonful, due to the pepper flecks going straight to the back of my throat. Hurts so good.

That's me.

My parents can't eat anything I cook because I use so much of so many spices.


My mother is the exact opposite, a few flakes of black pepper and her mouth is on FIRE.

It's funny, when I was a kid I hated black pepper. Now I can't get enough of it! Oh, but spicy mustard?? Been a favorite ever since I discovered there was such a thing.

I'm the opposite. I always preferred milder flavors. In fact, I utterly dislike the strong flavor of garlic and salty / fatty food, for example. However, I've come to like sharpness (chili, pepperoni), but only in moderate doses!

Some people are sensory seekers rather than avoiders.

Beyond just seeking, some of us are seekers who also are hypersensitive, that tends to confuse a bunch of people I find.

Personally, I really like some strong flavors and others are just way over strong for me. I can't stand coffee because the flavor is too strong (but I'll eat coffee ice cream, because the flavor is weaker there), however, I have a really strong spice tolerance for someone who is hypersensitive, and while I can't stand salt, can eat parmesean straight and enjoy it.

I like strong flavours, but I don't tend to like anything too hot. But my daughter loves everything to be plain, no sauce (except ketchup) and definitely no spice, no matter if it isn't hot.

I've used about 14-15 packs of sugar in coffee before. That's probably why I only drink flavored coffee now, at least on the rare occasions I drink coffee at all.

I hate anything spicy and it's very rare for me to even eat anything even mildly spicy. I don't really like bitter things either.

I like sweet and salty and greasy. I like garlic even if it's kind of strong but I can't eat a raw garlic clove. I tried to once and it burned my tongue. I'd eat salt plain and drink grease if I wasn't worried that it would be too unhealthy for me now that I'm older. I've eaten "bacon fat on toast" before. I used to hear commercials on the radio about poor people having to eat "ketchup soup" and "bacon fat on toast" and it sounded so delicious I thought I'd try it. I still wonder where these dirt poor people got the bacon grease though. That would imply that at some point they had bacon.

When my mother cooks I frequently have to wait a bit to eat it because it's too hot (temperature). It's not too hot for her.

Same!
An ex of mine once took my parents and me to a new mexican restarant, and I'd whispered to him that the salsa had about as much flavor as water.
At that point, my mom takes a bite of it and declares "whew, that's SPICY!"




Yeah. I have to put so much sugar and creamer in my coffee for it to be palatable, I feel like I might as well give up the coffee pretense and get a milkshake. I go to Starbucks about twice a year, when I'm out with my parents doing random things, but that's it.

I love strong flavors.

The avoidess of sensory overload is usually when it's uncontrollable, if you can control it some one might actively seek overwhelming stuff, to enjoy the overwhelming feeling.

Generally speaking I don't like strong flavors. I also don't "complicated" flavors where a lot of different things are layered together. I like things to just be plain, with only salt/pepper added, or maybe cajun flavoring.

I like some spicy foods, but nothing too exotic. I like eating food that is hot enough to make my eyes water, but it has to be a something very simple, like putting hot peppers or crushed red pepper on a pizza. I sometimes will eat raw hot peppers just to get the burning sensation. But foods that have a lot of different spices added in (hot or not) are usually not my thing.

I hate garlic. I can tolerate it if it's just a very, very light garlic flavor in something but I'd rather not have it at all.

I don't eat most fruits, because the flavors are just too strong for me.

I LOVE spicy food. I tend to find that hot sauce makes almost anything taste better

You know, I've never thought of it like that, but it makes sense. It also explains some of the paradoxes I've found with my own sensory issues. I hate loud noises, yet I listen to music at really loud volumes, and I get anxious when people I don't know bump into me or touch me, but I love feelings like kissing, hugging, caressing, cuddling, etc. when it's someone I'm comfortable with and attracted to.

I tend to go more for mild flavors - not so much because of sensory issues or a dislike of strong / spicy flavors, but because I get horrible heartburn from them.

I love red pepper. And have an absolute fetish for garlic.
I like fruit, but don't eat too much because of the sugar.